The osmotic pressure, pH and nutrient concentration of the culture media is critical for maintaining a healthy culture. This can be particularly difficult when having to maintain cultures for longer periods of time (weeks or months). Due to their size and the way OMEGA devices are generally used, the small chambers are prone to evaporation. This can lead to the loss of the seeded culture as the media gradually concentrates over time. For this reason, we designed these cell culture evaporation minimizers that can be filled with fluid to reduce the evaporation rate from the OMEGA device chambers.
The polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) rings come packaged sterile and are designed to be reused (they can be sterilized using an autoclave or steam sterilizer). The inserts can be rendered hydrophilic (“wettable”) using a plasma or UV/ozone cleaner to facilitate fluid filling of the track. They can also be used as is. Although the culture evaporation minimizers do reduce evaporation rates during incubation of cultures, it is strongly recommended that the fluid level of each chamber of the device be verified on a regular basis. Verification frequency will depend on culture type, the number of times the culture is removed from the incubator, and on the environmental conditions within the incubator. We recommend verifying the fluid level in evaporation minimizers and device chambers every 2 days and refilling when required.
Evaporation Minimizer specifications:
- Fits standard 35mm culture dishes
- Outer diameter: 35mm
- Inner diameter: 23mm
- Working volume: 500µL
The kit includes:
- 4 x reusable evaporation minimizing culture inserts (for 35 mm dishes)
