Cylinder-Free Atmosphere Control for Incubators

描述（由申请人提供）：所提出的技术是一种方便灵活的系统，可在不使用加压气瓶的情况下控制细胞培养孵育器中的气体气氛。该产品将作为细胞培养箱的辅助装置/附件，用于实验室，这些实验室希望无气瓶操作的便利性和安全性以及在宽范围内拨入氧气和二氧化碳设定点的灵活性。哺乳动物细胞培养在基础医学研究、移植、组织工程、干细胞生产、疫苗生产、抗体生产和细胞分析中起着重要作用。用于哺乳动物细胞培养的标准培养箱通常使用加压气体混合物在142 mm Hg（18.6%）氧气和38 mm Hg（5%）二氧化碳下操作。随着氧浓度在细胞生理学中的作用越来越被人们所了解，研究和生产中对可调节氧培养箱（1%-60%）的需求变得越来越明显。干细胞、胚胎细胞和肿瘤细胞的研究需要较低浓度的氧气;较高浓度的氧气可能有利于培养多层组织，如皮肤、胰岛和组织工程产品。Giner公司的总体产品目标是一个辅助单位，商业孵化器提供控制气体气氛（氧气，二氧化碳，氮气，湿度）使用电化学过程，以产生所需的所有气体。在第一阶段，通过为具有原型系统的小型培养箱提供气体生成和控制，成功地证明了可行性。在第二阶段，该技术将针对一系列商业孵化器进行规模调整，与集成的电子显示屏和终端进行包装，并在为商业化做准备时功能更加齐全。第二阶段的原型将在一所医学院的生物医学研究实验室进行评估和使用。商业潜力：细胞培养培养箱市场是巨大的，并在不断增长，2005年销售了16，000多个二氧化碳培养箱，全球销售额为1.12亿美元。所提出的技术将是实验室的优质辅助/附件单元，这些实验室希望无气瓶操作的便利性和安全性以及在宽范围内拨入氧气和二氧化碳设定点的灵活性。Giner将与一家制造商和一家分销商合作，将这项技术商业化。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed technology is a convenient and flexible system to control the gas atmosphere in cell culture incubators without the use of pressurized gas cylinders. The product would be an auxiliary unit/accessory to a cell culture incubator for laboratories that want the convenience and safety of no gas cylinder operation and the flexibility of dial-in oxygen and carbon dioxide set points over a wide range. Mammalian cell culture plays an important role in basic medical research, transplantation, tissue engineering, stem cell production, vaccine production, antibody production and cellular assays. Standard incubators for mammalian cell culture are typically operated at 142 mm Hg (18.6%) oxygen and 38 mm Hg (5%) carbon dioxide using pressured gas mixes. As the role of oxygen concentration in cellular physiology becomes more well understood, the need for adjustable oxygen incubators (1%-60%) for both research and production is becoming apparent. Lower concentrations of oxygen are required for research on stem cells, embryonic cells and tumor cells; higher concentrations may be advantageous for the culture of multilayer tissue such as skin, pancreatic islets and tissue engineering products. Giner, Inc.'s overall product goal is an auxiliary unit to commercial incubators to supply controlled gas atmospheres (oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, humidity) using electrochemical processes to generate all the gases required. In Phase I, feasibility was successfully demonstrated by providing gas generation and control to a small incubator with a prototype system. In Phase II, the technology will be sized for a range of commercial incubators, be packaged with an integrated electronic display and terminal and be more full- featured in preparation for commercialization. The Phase II prototype will be evaluated and utilized in a biomedical research laboratory at a medical school. Commercial Potential: The cell culture incubator market is substantial and growing with over 16,000 carbon dioxide incubators sold in 2005 with $112 million in sales worldwide. The proposed technology would be a premium auxiliary/accessory unit for laboratories that want the convenience and safety of no gas cylinder operation and the flexibility of dial-in oxygen and carbon dioxide set points over a wide range. Giner will be partnering with a manufacturer and a distributor to commercialize the technology.