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A PORTABLE INCUBATOR FOR LONG-DISTANCE TRANSPORT OF CULTURES
573
Methods and Devices
reduce thermal gradients inside the container. About 1OW
are
required to maintain a temperature of 37’C within the incubator ambient temperature of 5°C. Heater Batteries The heater batteries must have a capacity of at least 100 watt-hours in order to operate the incubator for ten hours at a 5°C ambient temperature. Rechargeable alkaline-manganesezinc secondary batteries (Eveready no. 561)1 are used for this purpose. More than 40W can be supplied to the incubator with three batteries in series, and the total energy capacity is over 110 watt-hours. The batteries are invertible, and relatively low in cost and weight. at an
A PORTABLE INCUBATOR FOR LONG-DISTANCE TRANSPORT OF CULTURES
THE transport of viable biological materials in a frozen state nearly anywhere has become a routine of jet air service, but sometimes microorganisms, cells, and tissues may have to be sent a long distance at body-temperature. A portable incubator designed to meet this need must be rugged in construction, safe for air travel, sensitive to temperature control, and inexpensive. The incubator described here was constructed at a total cost of U.S.$135 and is shown in figs 1 and 2 after 30,000 miles of travel. to
THE INCUBATOR
Heaters, Fan, and Thermoregulator Incandescent lamps are used as heaters because of their low thermal inertia. Two lamps are placed in parallel, and to
The portable incubator has 2 components: a lower insulating box containing heaters, fan, and thermoregulator; and an upper component of heater batteries and battery charger encased in aluminum and mounted to the incubator box cover. During transport, the two components are fastened securely by a strap. A voltmeter can be built into the battery case as optional equipment to permit checks of battery voltage during long journeys. A green lamp marked " FAN " indicates that the fan is operating and will remain lighted as long as the fan continues to operate. A red lamp marked " HEATER" is connected in parallel with the heating elements and indicates their function. These optional safety features are shown in figs. 1 and 2. The incubator is 51 cm. high, 26-5 cm. wide, and 35 cm. long, and the net weight is 14-6 kg.
Performance Specifications The incubator is designed
to maintain a temperature of The- temperature gradient throughout the incubator is less than ±0-5°C and is reduced when the insulating container is filled with samples. The incubator will maintain 37 °C for more than 20 hours at an ambient temperature of 21°C or 10 hours at an ambient temperature of 5°C without over-discharging the batteries.
37°C O.1°C.
Container A polystyrene box with a capacity of 0-014 c.cm. and walls 3-7 cm. thick is inner-lined with a thin sheet of aluminum to
Insulating
Fig. 2-Incubator compartment filled
to
half capacity with 90 tubes.
increase reliability
are operated at one-half of their rated lamps dissipate a total of 40W. A fan within the incubator ensures that whatever the position of the incubator air heated by the lamps moves towards the sensing region of the thermoregulator. Two accessory rechargeable batteries (Eveready no. 563) supply power to the fan motor which is highly efficient at low power levels (46% at 80mW). A resistor is adjusted so that the fan current is 60mA. Operation of the fan itself does not add significant heat, and the
voltage.
The
incubator will remain at 37°C with ambient temperatures as high as 35°C. A magnetically set, mercury-in-glass thermoregulator is very accurate (=LO-01°C) and is set easily to within 0.1°C between 0° and 100°C. It can be inverted without loss of accuracy. Connections of the thermoregulator are coated with siliconrubber compound.
Battery Charger The battery charger is a transistorised, voltage-regulated supply.l A resistor limits the charging current as the batteries approach full charge. Another resistor is adjusted so that the isolated supply voltage is 51.5V. A switch controls the incubator and allows the battery to be charged while the incubator is off. Another switch permits the incubator to be recharged with either 110 or 220V of alternating current. A constant voltage charger needs little attention, and batteries cannot be over-charged. DISCUSSION
Fig. I-The portable incubator.
A portable incubator of this type can be used in several ways. We have transported peripheral leucocyte cultures in the incubator from the field to our laboratories for further study. As many as 190 cell-suspension cultures contained in 13 x 100 mm. screw-cap tubes or equivalent volumes of Leighton tubes, bottles, and flasks can be accommodated. The incubator could prove useful if two laboratories wish to exchange particular cultures without changes in metabolic activity caused by variations in temperature. 1. Eveready Battery Applications and Engineering Data, Union Carbide Co., New York City, New York, U.S.A.; pp. 291, 644. 1965.
602
University of Oxford The degree of D.M. has of
B.M. on
been conferred
on
J. G. Banwell and
J. K. Brockbank.
Cornell University Dr. Michael Latham has been appointed international nutrition.
University
He graduated in medicine from Trinity College, and, after holding house-appointments in Britain he joined the Colonial Service in 1954 as distric
of Birmingham Prof. W. H. Trethowan has been appointed dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry in succession to Prof. D. V. Hubble.
Tanzania. In 1958 he took the D.T.M.&H. in Lon he was placed in charge of the nutrition unit o Health in Dar es Salaam. He left Tanzania 2 was appointed O.B.E. in 1965 in recognition of medicine and in the founding of the International Salaam. Since 1964 he has held appointments in nutrition of Harvard University, and in 1965 he to has also been a consultant to W.H.O. and F.A.O work includes a book on Human Nutrition in Tropi and he is conducting an epidemiological study o Boston and Ireland and an investigation into th
of London Applications are invited for support from the Geoffrey E. Duveen Fund for research into otology or neuro-otology. Details may be found in our advertisement columns.
University
Dr. John Hardwicke and Dr. K. W. W. H. Walton have been appointed to new additional chairs of experimental pathology. Dr. Hardwicke, who is 47, studied medicine at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School, graduating in 1943. He served for 4 years in the R.A.M.C. and spent much of the time in Africa. In 1947 he returned to St. Mary’s, where he held a houseappointment in the medical unit before becoming registrar in the penicillin research unit. After taking a B.SC. in physiology in 1949, he moved to Birmingham in the following year to work under the late Prof. J. R. Squire as a Medical Research Council research fellow, and he was appointed lecturer in experimental pathology in 1953. He took the M.D. Birm. in 1954, and in 1961 he spent a year in the United States as a Wellcome research fellow in the department of medicine at Columbia University, New York. Returning to Birmingham, he was appointed reader in 1963. Dr. Hardwicke has written on renal disease and the nephrotic syndrome and has contributed as a joint author a chapter on proteinuria to Black’s Renal Disease ( 19621. Dr. Walton, who is 48, qualified M.B. from University College Ho3Dital. London, in 1942. and. after soendins a short time in the
pathology department
at U.C.H. and
Cambridge University, he joined the R.A.M.C. as a specialist pathologist in the Army Pathology Service. In 1947 he returned to U.C.H.
as
a
registrar in the department of pathology under the late Prof. G. R. Cameron, and in 1949 he took the M.D.
following year he went to Birmingham to take up the post of lecIn turer in experimental pathology. 1954 he spent a year as a Rockefeller travelling fellow at Harvard. He took the PH.D. Birm. in the same year, and he was appointed to a readership at Birmingham in 1958. He was elected F.C.PATH. in 1965. His special study has been of the lipoprotems, and he has investigated the role of fatcontaining serum-proteins in vascular disease. He has also been interested in rheumatoid arthritis, and has been responsible for the organisation of the rheumatism research wing at Birmingham. His published work includes articles on investigation of the histochemical basis of metachromasia, and the chemistry and mode of action of The
heparin. The honorary degree of M.D. has been conferred on Dr. Chandra Mani, director of the South East Asia regional office of the World Health Organisation, and of LL.D. on Prof. N. C. Louros (Athens). Dr. A. G. Davies has been appointed lecturer in physiology. of Newcastle upon Tyne The Nuffield Provincial Hospital Trust has granted E21,000 over 3 years for an inquiry into social and medical problems of over-fertility in Newcastle upon Tyne, to be conducted by Prof. J. K. Russell, Mr. Linton Snaith, and Prof. P. C. Collison.
University
Queen’s University, Belfast An honorary degree of D.SC. Hamilton in July.
malnutrition on subsequent mental developmen Bogota, Colombia.
Biochemical Society This society will hold its annual general mee 17 to 19 at University College London. Mr. will give a lecture on synthesis of the nucleic ac be a symposium on porphyrins and related com details may be had from the executive secreta 7 Warwick Court, London W.C.I.
of Tissues and Organs This is to be the subject of a Huxley lect Francis D. Moore (Harvard) will give on Wed at 5.30 P.M. at the Royal Commonwealth S may be had from the Dean of Charing Cross H School, 62 Chandos Place, London W.C.2.
Transplantation
Royal Photographic Society of Great Bri The annual exhibition of the Society’s med opened on March 7 by Mr. R. V. Cooke,
British Medical Association. The exhibition w the Claire Wand Gallery at B.M.A. House, Ta W.C.1, until April 26. The following awards
Association of British Pharmaceutical Industries Klavins (Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Western Australia). Pharmaceutical Society juniors’ trophy.-S. Go
Hugo
Hospital).
Medical Group technical award.-J. H. Burn Hospital, Colchester). Medical Group merit awards.-D. F. Lawson ( Laboratories); R. R. Phillips (Institute of Derma Julie Dorrington (St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, Ellis (Royal Free Hospital Medical School). British Medical journal award.-D. E. Mandevi mew’s Hospital, London). The Lancet trophy.-T. C. Dodds (University o Chairman’s award.-Julie Dorrington.
Prof. B. S. Hetzel has been appointed founda social and preventive medicine at Monash Univers
Baird and Prof. W. J. H. Butterfield hav members of British group of the Anglo-So Committee.
Lady
as
Dr. T. H. Bewley has been elected secretary of Study of Addiction. His address is Tooting Bec
S.W.17.
The Schola Cantorum of Oxford will give a co and songs at the Royal Postgraduate Medical Scho London W.12, on Tuesday, March 19, at 8 P.M.
International Pharmacopsychiatry is a new quart providing an international platform for the discu the pharmacological aspects of psychiatric illness, a especially. Vol. I (no. 1) contains papers on the p peutic activity of psychotropic drugs, the pharmaco phrenia in Germany, and psychotherapy. Papers i at
German (all to have summaries in English) a publishers are S. Karger AG, Arnold-Bocklin-Stra 11, Switzerland. Annual subscription (four issues), or
will be conferred
on
Prof. W.
J.
Methods and Devices
reduce thermal gradients inside the container. About 1OW
are
required to maintain a temperature of 37’C within the incubator ambient temperature of 5°C. Heater Batteries The heater batteries must have a capacity of at least 100 watt-hours in order to operate the incubator for ten hours at a 5°C ambient temperature. Rechargeable alkaline-manganesezinc secondary batteries (Eveready no. 561)1 are used for this purpose. More than 40W can be supplied to the incubator with three batteries in series, and the total energy capacity is over 110 watt-hours. The batteries are invertible, and relatively low in cost and weight. at an
A PORTABLE INCUBATOR FOR LONG-DISTANCE TRANSPORT OF CULTURES
THE transport of viable biological materials in a frozen state nearly anywhere has become a routine of jet air service, but sometimes microorganisms, cells, and tissues may have to be sent a long distance at body-temperature. A portable incubator designed to meet this need must be rugged in construction, safe for air travel, sensitive to temperature control, and inexpensive. The incubator described here was constructed at a total cost of U.S.$135 and is shown in figs 1 and 2 after 30,000 miles of travel. to
THE INCUBATOR
Heaters, Fan, and Thermoregulator Incandescent lamps are used as heaters because of their low thermal inertia. Two lamps are placed in parallel, and to
The portable incubator has 2 components: a lower insulating box containing heaters, fan, and thermoregulator; and an upper component of heater batteries and battery charger encased in aluminum and mounted to the incubator box cover. During transport, the two components are fastened securely by a strap. A voltmeter can be built into the battery case as optional equipment to permit checks of battery voltage during long journeys. A green lamp marked " FAN " indicates that the fan is operating and will remain lighted as long as the fan continues to operate. A red lamp marked " HEATER" is connected in parallel with the heating elements and indicates their function. These optional safety features are shown in figs. 1 and 2. The incubator is 51 cm. high, 26-5 cm. wide, and 35 cm. long, and the net weight is 14-6 kg.
Performance Specifications The incubator is designed
to maintain a temperature of The- temperature gradient throughout the incubator is less than ±0-5°C and is reduced when the insulating container is filled with samples. The incubator will maintain 37 °C for more than 20 hours at an ambient temperature of 21°C or 10 hours at an ambient temperature of 5°C without over-discharging the batteries.
37°C O.1°C.
Container A polystyrene box with a capacity of 0-014 c.cm. and walls 3-7 cm. thick is inner-lined with a thin sheet of aluminum to
Insulating
Fig. 2-Incubator compartment filled
to
half capacity with 90 tubes.
increase reliability
are operated at one-half of their rated lamps dissipate a total of 40W. A fan within the incubator ensures that whatever the position of the incubator air heated by the lamps moves towards the sensing region of the thermoregulator. Two accessory rechargeable batteries (Eveready no. 563) supply power to the fan motor which is highly efficient at low power levels (46% at 80mW). A resistor is adjusted so that the fan current is 60mA. Operation of the fan itself does not add significant heat, and the
voltage.
The
incubator will remain at 37°C with ambient temperatures as high as 35°C. A magnetically set, mercury-in-glass thermoregulator is very accurate (=LO-01°C) and is set easily to within 0.1°C between 0° and 100°C. It can be inverted without loss of accuracy. Connections of the thermoregulator are coated with siliconrubber compound.
Battery Charger The battery charger is a transistorised, voltage-regulated supply.l A resistor limits the charging current as the batteries approach full charge. Another resistor is adjusted so that the isolated supply voltage is 51.5V. A switch controls the incubator and allows the battery to be charged while the incubator is off. Another switch permits the incubator to be recharged with either 110 or 220V of alternating current. A constant voltage charger needs little attention, and batteries cannot be over-charged. DISCUSSION
Fig. I-The portable incubator.
A portable incubator of this type can be used in several ways. We have transported peripheral leucocyte cultures in the incubator from the field to our laboratories for further study. As many as 190 cell-suspension cultures contained in 13 x 100 mm. screw-cap tubes or equivalent volumes of Leighton tubes, bottles, and flasks can be accommodated. The incubator could prove useful if two laboratories wish to exchange particular cultures without changes in metabolic activity caused by variations in temperature. 1. Eveready Battery Applications and Engineering Data, Union Carbide Co., New York City, New York, U.S.A.; pp. 291, 644. 1965.
602
University of Oxford The degree of D.M. has of
B.M. on
been conferred
on
J. G. Banwell and
J. K. Brockbank.
Cornell University Dr. Michael Latham has been appointed international nutrition.
University
He graduated in medicine from Trinity College, and, after holding house-appointments in Britain he joined the Colonial Service in 1954 as distric
of Birmingham Prof. W. H. Trethowan has been appointed dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry in succession to Prof. D. V. Hubble.
Tanzania. In 1958 he took the D.T.M.&H. in Lon he was placed in charge of the nutrition unit o Health in Dar es Salaam. He left Tanzania 2 was appointed O.B.E. in 1965 in recognition of medicine and in the founding of the International Salaam. Since 1964 he has held appointments in nutrition of Harvard University, and in 1965 he to has also been a consultant to W.H.O. and F.A.O work includes a book on Human Nutrition in Tropi and he is conducting an epidemiological study o Boston and Ireland and an investigation into th
of London Applications are invited for support from the Geoffrey E. Duveen Fund for research into otology or neuro-otology. Details may be found in our advertisement columns.
University
Dr. John Hardwicke and Dr. K. W. W. H. Walton have been appointed to new additional chairs of experimental pathology. Dr. Hardwicke, who is 47, studied medicine at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School, graduating in 1943. He served for 4 years in the R.A.M.C. and spent much of the time in Africa. In 1947 he returned to St. Mary’s, where he held a houseappointment in the medical unit before becoming registrar in the penicillin research unit. After taking a B.SC. in physiology in 1949, he moved to Birmingham in the following year to work under the late Prof. J. R. Squire as a Medical Research Council research fellow, and he was appointed lecturer in experimental pathology in 1953. He took the M.D. Birm. in 1954, and in 1961 he spent a year in the United States as a Wellcome research fellow in the department of medicine at Columbia University, New York. Returning to Birmingham, he was appointed reader in 1963. Dr. Hardwicke has written on renal disease and the nephrotic syndrome and has contributed as a joint author a chapter on proteinuria to Black’s Renal Disease ( 19621. Dr. Walton, who is 48, qualified M.B. from University College Ho3Dital. London, in 1942. and. after soendins a short time in the
pathology department
at U.C.H. and
Cambridge University, he joined the R.A.M.C. as a specialist pathologist in the Army Pathology Service. In 1947 he returned to U.C.H.
as
a
registrar in the department of pathology under the late Prof. G. R. Cameron, and in 1949 he took the M.D.
following year he went to Birmingham to take up the post of lecIn turer in experimental pathology. 1954 he spent a year as a Rockefeller travelling fellow at Harvard. He took the PH.D. Birm. in the same year, and he was appointed to a readership at Birmingham in 1958. He was elected F.C.PATH. in 1965. His special study has been of the lipoprotems, and he has investigated the role of fatcontaining serum-proteins in vascular disease. He has also been interested in rheumatoid arthritis, and has been responsible for the organisation of the rheumatism research wing at Birmingham. His published work includes articles on investigation of the histochemical basis of metachromasia, and the chemistry and mode of action of The
heparin. The honorary degree of M.D. has been conferred on Dr. Chandra Mani, director of the South East Asia regional office of the World Health Organisation, and of LL.D. on Prof. N. C. Louros (Athens). Dr. A. G. Davies has been appointed lecturer in physiology. of Newcastle upon Tyne The Nuffield Provincial Hospital Trust has granted E21,000 over 3 years for an inquiry into social and medical problems of over-fertility in Newcastle upon Tyne, to be conducted by Prof. J. K. Russell, Mr. Linton Snaith, and Prof. P. C. Collison.
University
Queen’s University, Belfast An honorary degree of D.SC. Hamilton in July.
malnutrition on subsequent mental developmen Bogota, Colombia.
Biochemical Society This society will hold its annual general mee 17 to 19 at University College London. Mr. will give a lecture on synthesis of the nucleic ac be a symposium on porphyrins and related com details may be had from the executive secreta 7 Warwick Court, London W.C.I.
of Tissues and Organs This is to be the subject of a Huxley lect Francis D. Moore (Harvard) will give on Wed at 5.30 P.M. at the Royal Commonwealth S may be had from the Dean of Charing Cross H School, 62 Chandos Place, London W.C.2.
Transplantation
Royal Photographic Society of Great Bri The annual exhibition of the Society’s med opened on March 7 by Mr. R. V. Cooke,
British Medical Association. The exhibition w the Claire Wand Gallery at B.M.A. House, Ta W.C.1, until April 26. The following awards
Association of British Pharmaceutical Industries Klavins (Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Western Australia). Pharmaceutical Society juniors’ trophy.-S. Go
Hugo
Hospital).
Medical Group technical award.-J. H. Burn Hospital, Colchester). Medical Group merit awards.-D. F. Lawson ( Laboratories); R. R. Phillips (Institute of Derma Julie Dorrington (St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, Ellis (Royal Free Hospital Medical School). British Medical journal award.-D. E. Mandevi mew’s Hospital, London). The Lancet trophy.-T. C. Dodds (University o Chairman’s award.-Julie Dorrington.
Prof. B. S. Hetzel has been appointed founda social and preventive medicine at Monash Univers
Baird and Prof. W. J. H. Butterfield hav members of British group of the Anglo-So Committee.
Lady
as
Dr. T. H. Bewley has been elected secretary of Study of Addiction. His address is Tooting Bec
S.W.17.
The Schola Cantorum of Oxford will give a co and songs at the Royal Postgraduate Medical Scho London W.12, on Tuesday, March 19, at 8 P.M.
International Pharmacopsychiatry is a new quart providing an international platform for the discu the pharmacological aspects of psychiatric illness, a especially. Vol. I (no. 1) contains papers on the p peutic activity of psychotropic drugs, the pharmaco phrenia in Germany, and psychotherapy. Papers i at
German (all to have summaries in English) a publishers are S. Karger AG, Arnold-Bocklin-Stra 11, Switzerland. Annual subscription (four issues), or
will be conferred
on
Prof. W.
J.