A process and system for producing an inoculum for downstream cell production is disclosed. The inoculum is produced in a perfusion bioreactor in which the nutrient media feed is increased as the biomass concentration increases within the bioreactor. A biomass sensor can be used to periodically or continuously monitor biomass concentration. This information can be fed to a controller for automatically increasing nutrient media feed rates in a manner that is directly proportional to producing an inoculum with an increase cell density. The process and system can also include an automated subsystem for maintaining constant volume levels within the perfusion bioreactor during the process.

A calibration apparatus comprises estimation circuitry configured to estimate, based on a calibration factor, an estimated number of cells of a first type in a dyed biological sample containing an unknown number of cells. Determination circuitry determines the actual number of cells of the first type in the dyed biological sample. Processing circuitry adjusts the calibration factor. The estimation circuitry is configured with the processing circuitry to estimate the estimated number of the cells of the first type in the dyed biological sample one or more times, based on a different value of the calibration factor for each of the one or more times, until the estimated number of the cells of the first type approaches the actual number of cells of the first type.

A device to aid in the production and regeneration of tissues and organs, standing alone, or on or inside of the human body, with a method of fabrication of tissues and organs and use of the device.

An information processing device includes: an acquirer that acquires observation results obtained from a time-lapse image of a target object; and a controller that indicates, in a display image, analysis results visually representing the observation results and an increase/decrease time indicating an amount of time required to increase or decrease a predetermined value related to the target object. When a setting for a section in the analysis results has been received, the controller indicates, in the display image, the increase/decrease time corresponding to the section that has been set.

A cell culture monitoring system comprising a monitoring apparatus for coupling to a culture tank containing a cell culture medium therein, and a fluid circulation system for fluidic coupling to the cell culture tank the fluid circulation system comprising a dielectrophoresis cartridge for connection to the cell culture tank via supply and return conduits, the dielectrophoresis cartridge comprising a base and an electrode support having electrodes in or on the electrode support, the electrodes configured for traveling wave dielectrophoresis and comprising a measurement zone arranged above a measuring chamber formed between the electrode support and a floor of the base forming a measuring chamber therebetween, whereby cells in a liquid medium flowing through the measuring chamber are subject to a traveling wave dielectrophoresis force orthogonal to a direction of flow of said liquid through said measuring chamber.

A cell culture vessel, cell culture monitoring system, and Raman spectroscopy system for non-invasive measuring of a cell culture are provided. The vessel includes a cell culture chamber that operates as a closed system, a wall defining a boundary of the cell culture chamber and separating the interior space of the cell culture chamber from an exterior of the cell culture chamber, and a window disposed in the wall and separating the interior space of the cell culture chamber from an exterior of the cell culture chamber. The cell culture chamber includes an interior space for housing at least one of the cell culture and a cell culture media. The window includes a polymer and allows monitoring of the cell culture via a monitoring module disposed on the exterior without the monitoring module coming into physical contact with the cell culture or the cell culture media.

The invention relates to the production of microalgae biomass. The microalgae contained in a suspension of water and microalgae are continuously phototrophically or mixotrophically cultivated in a cultivation module (1), which is passed multiple times by the suspension and has a gas part and a liquid part with a liquid supply (3), by supplying light from at least one artificial light source (5) and nutrients. According to the turbidity established by sensors, volume fractions of the suspension are repeatedly discharged from the cultivation module (1) for the harvest of microalgae and removed by means of a centrifuge (7). The cultivation of the microalgae occurs in an climate chamber forming the cultivation module (1), which is operated using water. Alongside a regulating of the temperature of the suspension, there also occurs a regulating of its pH value via the controlled addition of buffer ions and a regulating of the redox potential of the suspension and thereby also of its microbial contamination by controlling the light and nutrient supply, as well of a metered addition of oxygen. In addition, after the removal of microalgae, the remaining suspension is irradiated with UV light in order to kill unwanted microbial contamination before being returned into the cultivation module (1).

An antibiotic susceptibility testing device of gram-negative bacteria, as well as a corresponding method, are discussed. The device has a temperature control unit (including a constant temperature chamber) and a contactless conductivity-based measurement system. Disposable glassy or PVC tubes are used as test vessels for AST. In the performance of AST assay, appropriate kind of liquid medium containing identical amount of target bacterial cells and target antibiotics at different concentrations are loaded into test tubes, following by incubation in the device at a setup temperature. The bacterial growth profile is monitored by collecting the differential values (ΔC) of conductivity of liquid medium, which depend on the proliferation of viable cells. Outcome of ΔC indicates whether the target bacterial cells are completely inhibited by the test antibiotic or not, enabling the user to judge the value of the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) simply.

A system for collecting, growing, and analyzing biological specimens that may present a health threat. The system includes separate modules for specimen collection, sample isolation, and sample analysis that can be interconnected to safety process, culture, and analyze and unknown specimen. A decapitation module allows a user to safely collect a swab tip containing an unknown sample and transport the sample to a culture module where the sample can be washed from the swab tip and isolated in a cuvette for growth and analysis. The culture module may be coupled to a base station that can provide mixing, heating and cooling, as well as optical and spectral analysis.

An in vitro endothelial cell culture system for optimizing the pulsatile working mode of a continuous flow artificial heart belongs to the technical field of artificial organs. The system includes three parts: 1) a cell culture model on a microfluidic chip and an off-chip multielement aortic arch afterload fluid mechanics circulation loop; 2) devices for simulating the power source of a cardiovascular system: a fluid loading device is realized by a pulse blood pump, and an artificial heart device is connected in parallel to both ends of the pulse blood pump; and 3) a peripheral detection and feedback control system, comprising pressure and flow sensors, a fluorescence microscope, a CCD high-speed camera system and a proportional-integral-derivative feedback control system. The system can accurately simulate the real hemodynamics microenvironment of vascular endothelial cells in different parts of the aortic arch.