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Hello Confocalists:

I have a question for those doing live fluorescent cell imaging in a controlled environment over a period of many hours:

We have a plexiglass incubator installed around the stage of a Nikon inverted microscope, setup for live cell imaging and are looking for a device to both regulate and measure the amount of CO2 inside the chamber. Does anyone know of such a product? Phenol red in culture media can interfere with optical quality, yet we have to maintain a stable pH in the solution. I prefer not to have a probe directly in the dish because often the dish will be closed, therefore, measuring the atmosphere is more practical.

Also, thinking about which gas to use, I thought of a pure CO2 tank but someone said it may make the environment hypoxic if the exhaust is too close to the dish. If the end of the tube (CO2 is bubbled through water) is too distant from the dish, the gas can escape through numerous gaps in the setup and we'll be going through tanks on a daily basis. Would a 5%   CO2/air mixture be better?

Thanks for any help
Judy

Judy Trogadis
Bio-Imaging Coordinator
St. Michael's Hospital, 8Queen
30 Bond St.
Toronto, ON M5B 1W8
Canada
ph:  416-864-6060  x6337
pager: 416-685-9219
fax: 416-864-6043
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