Shimadzu Corporation

Tokyo Institute of Technology

Yoichi Fujiyama

Masakazu Akechi

Yoh-ichi Tagawa

Masaki Kanai

Hirohisa Abe

Chikara Miyake

Takeshi Iharada

Ippei Takeuchi

Koji Inoue

Satoshi Kuramoto

Shinobu Kudoh

Takeaki Inoue

A co-culture apparatus includes: a first airtight container; a co-culture device disposed outside of the first airtight container; a first culture medium source disposed in the first airtight container and storing a first culture medium; a second culture medium source storing a second culture medium having a lower dissolved oxygen concentration than that of the first culture medium; and a first conduit connected to the co-culture device and the first culture medium source. The co-culture device includes: a membrane having a first main surface, and a second main surface opposite to the first main surface for culturing cells; a first flow path partially defined by the first main surface and disposed such that the first culture medium flows therethrough; and a second flow path partially defined by the second main surface and disposed such that the second culture medium flows therethrough. The first flow path has an inlet connected to the first conduit.

Co-culture apparatus, co-culture system, and co-culture method

A cell evaluation device includes: a porous membrane having a first main face and a second main face; a first passage having a first passage portion facing a first area on which cells are placed in the first main face of the porous membrane; a second passage having a second passage portion facing a second area in the second main face of the porous membrane, the second area being positioned backside of the first area; and a first electrode provided in the first passage portion and a second electrode provided in the second passage portion, the first electrode and the second electrode being positioned across the first area and the second area. In the cell evaluation device, tight junctions are formed among the cells by cell cultivation. With the cell evaluation device, any increase in the electric resistance occurring due to the formation of the tight junctions can be easily measured.

Cell evaluation device and cell evaluation system

To provide a cell treatment container, including: a first member having a flow path in which a cell suspension including a liquid and cells dispersed in the liquid flows through, the flow path formed on a surface of the first member; a second member arranged to face the surface of the first member; and a damming formed in one or both of the first member and the second member, in which the damming is provided with a protrusion part protruding from the first member into the flow path to form a gap for allowing the liquid in the cell suspension to pass through the gap and for damming up the cells in the cell suspension, and a pillar extending from the protrusion part at a first end and being joined to the second member at a second end.

Cell treatment container and cell treatment device

This specimen collection device has a channel through which a specimen can be drawn by capillarity. The channel has two channel sections that extend from the tip side to the base side and are connected at the tip side. One of the channel sections is connected to a base side specimen intake port, and the other terminates at a location prior to reaching the base end. An air hole is provided at this terminating location. The specimen collection device is equipped with an extraction unit for collecting a prescribed amount of the specimen. The extraction unit includes the two channel sections on the tip side of the air hole, and can be severed from the other sections of the device body of the specimen collection device via a severable section.

Specimen collection device, holder for specimen collection device, and specimen pre-processing method that uses specimen collection device

A device for culturing a liver tissue has a culture chamber to which at least two flow channels, which are at least for introducing and discharging a culture medium, are connected. A gel which serves as a cell scaffold material is housed in the culture chamber. A co-culture system containing an endothelial cell-derived cell, a hepatocyte-derived cell and a mesenchymal cell is co-cultured on the gel in such a way that the co-culture system has a tubular structure.

Liver tissue culturing device, liver tissue culturing system, liver tissue culturing method, and liver function evaluation method

A cell culturing device has: a first culture chamber; a first introduction flow channel and a first discharge flow channel which are connected to the first culture chamber; a second culture chamber connected to a halfway part of the first introduction flow channel via a first porous membrane; and a second introduction flow channel and a second discharge flow channel which are connected to the second culture chamber. The first discharge flow channel is connected to the first culture chamber via a second porous membrane. The first introduction flow channel has a liquid collecting part between the first culture chamber and the second culture chamber.

Cell culturing device, cell culturing system and cell culturing method

A total organic carbon measuring instrument including a measuring unit composed of, integrated together, organic substance oxidation part and carbon dioxide separation part and conductivity measuring part, control unit and data processing unit. In order to enhance the accuracy of conductivity measurement, the control unit is constructed so as to stop feeding of a sample water at the time of oxidation of organic substance and carry out feeding of the sample water at the time of sample water moving to the organic substance oxidation decomposition part and carbon dioxide separation part. The data processing unit is constructed so as to measure the total organic carbon concentration on the basis of conductivity at the time of arriving of sample water irradiated with ultraviolet rays of which relative intensity is a given value or higher at the carbon dioxide separation part.

Total organic carbon measuring instrument

[PROBLEMS] To increase the rate of gas transfer in gas exchangers. [MEANS FOR SOLVING PROBLEMS] A gas exchange chip comprises substrates (); two flow channels () formed in the substrates () and each having an inlet port and an outlet port; and multiple grooves () interlinking the flow channels (). The grooves () have the size of their sectional area predetermined and have at least a part of the internal surface thereof rendered hydrophobic so as to permit the transfer of gas component while inhibiting any liquid passage. A sample water containing carbon dioxide is caused to flow through one of the flow channels () while pure water is caused to flow through the other flow channel () to thereby transfer the carbon dioxide contained in the sample water into the pure water.

Gas exchange chip

Disclosed is a total organic carbon (TOC) measurement apparatus capable of facilitating reduction in size of the apparatus and achieving enhanced measurement accuracy. The TOC measurement apparatus includes an organics oxidation unit, a carbon-dioxide separation unit and a conductivity measurement unit, which are integrally formed by laminating a plurality of plates to define therebetween and incorporate therein an oxidizing flow passage, an aqueous-sample flow passage, a gas permeable membrane, a measurement-water flow passage and a conductivity measuring electrode. The TOC measurement apparatus is designed such that carbon oxide in an aqueous sample is transferred from the aqueous-sample flow passage to the measurement-water flow passage through the gas permeable membrane, and a conductivity of measurement water which contains the carbon oxide and flows through a flow passage facing the conductivity measuring electrode is determined and converted to a TOC content.

Apparatus for measurement of total organic carbon content

An apparatus which comprises: an organic-substance oxidation part in which organic substances contained in a sample water supplied are oxidized into carbon dioxide; a carbon dioxide separation part in which the carbon dioxide contained in the sample water is caused to permeate and come into a measurement water; and a conductivity measurement part in which the conductivity of the measurement water is measured. The carbon dioxide separation part comprises: a sample water channel in which sample water flows; an intermediate water part in which intermediate water having a higher pH value in a neutral region than the sample water is present; and a measurement water channel through which the measurement water comprising deionized water flows. The sample water channel is in contact with the intermediate water part through a gas-permeable membrane, and the intermediate water part is in contact with the measurement water channel through a gas-permeable membrane.

Apparatus for determining total organic carbon

A measuring cell is formed of base plates joined together. A passage groove is formed on a joining surface of one base plate. Through-holes for introducing and discharging a fluid sample are formed on the other base plate, and the joining surface is provided with an optically opaque Si film as slits. Further, the joining surfaces of the base plates and the inner surface of the passage groove are covered with SiO films. Thus, a measuring cell having a sufficiently small passage sectional area, a high air-tightness, a chemically stable measuring chamber, and a high measuring sensitivity can be obtained.

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Kyoto, Japan

Yoichi Fujiyama