Specimen culturing assembly suitable for use in in-vitro fertilization and in other cell culturing procedures

Abstract

An assembly is disclosed that is to be used for the culturing of specimens such as embryos and gametes for use in in vitro fertilization. The assembly includes an annular ring which is affixed to the stage of an optical viewing instrument, such as a microscope. The viewing instrument is focused on a point which lies inside of the ring at a predetermined distance from the center of the ring. Circular specimen dishes having a plurality of specimen wells in which the specimens in question are cultured or grown is removably positioned inside of the ring. The specimen wells have bottom walls which are configured so as to ensure that the specimens in the wells will gravitate to the same predetermined position in each of the wells. That position coincides with the focus point of the viewing instrument. When the specimen culturing dishes are placed inside of the ring, they can be rotated inside of the ring to bring the specimens in each well sequentially into the focus point of the viewing instrument whereby the specimens in each dish can be quickly and accurately monitored for growth and development. Other devices are disclosed which enable the rotation of the dish and proper alignment of the specimens in each well with the focus point of the viewing instrument. The assembly can be used for a wide range of specimen culturing. Typical specimens include animal and human cells, tissues, stem cells, embryos, oocytes, immature oocytes, sperm precursor cells, embryonic cells, blastocysts, and spermatozoa.