An automatic processing device of culture plates (2) including a support frame (3); a slide (4) for removably housing a culture plate (2) and movably mounted on the support frame (3) selectively displaceable between a first loading position, a plurality of image-acquiring positions, and a first unloading position; a camera (6) of a linear type, provided with telecentric optic (7) and a trilinear sensor, and arranged acquire a multiplicity of linear images of corresponding linear portions of an upper surface of the culture plate (2), during the displacing of the slide (4); a first lighting device (11) orientated such as to illuminate the linear portions of an upper surface of the culture plate (2); an advancing device (14) of the slide (4) configured such as to enable obtaining a constant and substantially vibration-free advancing speed of the slide (4) in the image-acquiring zone; and an electronic control device (9) of a functioning of the camera (6), of the lighting device and of the advancing device (14).

The present invention provides a cell treatment apparatus capable of treating cells in a cell culture vessel. The cell treatment apparatus 100 according to the present invention includes a first region 1, a second region 3, and a third region 5. The first region 1 and the second region 3 are placed in succession. The first region 1 is a cell treatment chamber for treating cells. The cell treatment chamber can be closed from the outside of the cell treatment chamber and includes a culture vessel placement portion for placing a cell culture vessel. The second region 3 includes: a laser irradiation device capable of irradiating the cell culture vessel placed in the culture vessel placement portion with a laser; and a spot diameter adjustment device that adjusts a spot diameter formed in a portion to be irradiated with the laser in an object to be irradiated. The third region 5 includes a control device that controls at least one device in the cell treatment apparatus 100 and a power supply device 52 that supplies electric power to at least one device in the cell treatment apparatus 100. The culture vessel placement portion is placed to be adjacent to the second region 3 in the cell treatment chamber. An adjacent portion to the second region 3 in the culture vessel placement portion is translucent.

A bioreactor for producing hydrogen gas and metabolites and methods for making and using the same. The bioreactor comprises a main reactor chamber, a semipermeable membrane, a sleeve, microorganism, such as cyanobacteria, for producing hydrogen gas and metabolites, a power supply, a substrate medium, a heating member, a plurality of tubing members, a collection reservoir, a pressure-sealed connecter member, a metabolite purifying filter member, a light source, and an agitator. The bioreactor utilizes light, fermentation, and other metabolic processes for the production of metabolites, derived from various microorganisms contained within the bioreactor through respective metabolic pathways.

A medium changing device includes a lid disposed at a position where two or more regions in which a medium may be stored are covered therewith, the regions being disposed adjacent to each other and being open upward; one or more flow-path members each disposed so as to penetrate the lid, and each disposed at a position where one of the regions is bridged to another therewith when the lid is disposed at the position where the regions are covered; and a pump disposed on the other side of the lid and acting on the intermediate sections of the flow-path members, exposed on the other side, so as to cause the medium to flow from the opening at one end toward the opening at the other end of each of the flow-path members.

The invention relates to a live cell culture incubator, a method of working with an incubator, and a system including an incubator. An image acquisition system is used to determine an occupancy of the incubator.

Aspects of the invention are directed to a system and method of sparging an algae cultivation container. The method may include controlling at least one first sparger to distribute a first fluid into the container at a first operating flow rate; and controlling at least one second sparger to distribute a second fluid into the container at a second operating flow rate. The first operating flow rate may be adapted to allow mixing the algae in the cultivation container, and the second operating flow rate may be adapted to allow assimilation of materials in a liquid in the cultivation container.

An incubator system configured to illuminate at least one or more cell culture chamber devices and to rotate them about a respective predetermined axis, each cell culture chamber device comprising an enclosure, the enclosure configured to contain a cell culture media, and at least one viewing area configured to allow inspection of at least a part of the cell culture media, the incubator system further comprising at least one illumination device and at least one monitoring device, the at least one monitoring device configured to provide one or more monitoring signals of at least part of an illuminated cell culture media or an illuminated cell culture chamber, illuminated, by at least one of the at least one illumination device, with a signal of electromagnetic radiation, preferably incoherent or coherent ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and/or near-infrared light of broad or narrow wavelength spectrum, and wherein the incubator system further comprises or is in connection with one or more processing units configured to extract and/or derive data from the one or more monitoring signals, said data representing one or more aspects of the cell culture chamber device itself and/or the cellular activity occurring within.

Described herein is an apparatus for evaluating biological cell cultures. The apparatus comprises a housing and a controller coupled to the housing over a data bus. The housing comprises a light source to generate light, a collimator to collimate the light generated by the light source, a linear stage to actuate a cell culture dish including a biological cell culture in orthogonal directions, and a photodetector to receive the collimated light through the cell culture dish and the biological cell culture. The controller is configured to provide instructions to operate the light source, the linear stage, and the photodetector over the data bus.

An automatic processing device of culture plates (2) for microbiological samples, wherein the processing device (1) includes a support frame (3); a slide (4) provided with a seating (5) configured for removably housing a culture plate (2) and movably mounted on the support frame (3) so as to be selectively displaceable between a first loading position, a plurality of image-acquiring positions, and a first unloading; a camera (6) of a linear type, provided with an optic (7) of a telecentric type and a trilinear sensor, and arranged according to a vertical axis (8) such as to acquire, at an image-acquiring zone, a multiplicity of linear images of corresponding linear portions of an upper surface of the culture plate (2), during the displacing of the slide (4); a first lighting device (11) orientated such as to illuminate the linear portions of an upper surface of the culture plate (2); an advancing device (14) of the slide (4) configured such as to enable obtaining a constant and substantially vibration-free advancing speed of the slide (4) in the image-acquiring zone; and an electronic control device (9) of a functioning of the camera (6), of the lighting device and of the advancing device (14).

Systems comprising a microfluidic device are provided for maintaining and analyzing tissue slices. Methods for maintaining tissue slices in a microfluidic device are further provided.