Biological cell treatment method and apparatus
AssigneesHitachi, Ltd., Hitachi Koki Co., Ltd.
InventorsYoshio Kawamura, Yoshu Yoshiba, Shinji Tanaka, Kazuo Sato, Jiro Kikuchi, Kahoru Takahashi
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Abstract
In determining the effectiveness of parameters on cells, after treatment of the cells with one or more selected parameters, the results of the treatment can be quickly determined by measuring the number n.sub.0 of cells having a predetermined cell form, subsequently mechanically stressing the cells for a sufficient period of time t to change the cell form substantially, thereafter again measuring the number n of cells having the predetermined cell form, and determining the cell viability .tau.defined by .tau.=t/1n(n.sub.0 /n).
Claims42
A method of testing the effect of a treatment on the viability of biological cells that are protoplasts of plant cells, comprising the steps of:
- holding a plurality of the cells in a corresponding plurality of at least one hundred microchambers;
- counting a number n.sub.0 of the cells in the microchambers that have one of a broken and normal form indicative of viability;
- treating the cells with a treatment, said treatment affecting degradation of viability of the cells, for a predetermined period of time t;
- after said counting the number n.sub.0 and during the time t, loading a plurality of cycles of mechanical stress on the cells sufficiently to accelerate the degradation of viability by alternating the application of hydrostatic pressurization and suction to the cells for each cycle;
- after said loading and after the period of time t has elapsed, counting a number n of cells in the microchambers that have said one of the broken and normal form indicative of viability;
- and
- calculating a value as a function of the counted numbers of cells n.sub.0 and n and the time t, which value is useful in evaluating the degradation of viability effect of the treatment on the cells.
A biological cell viability evaluation apparatus, comprising:
- means for isolating a plurality of biological cells that are protoplasts of plant cells in a corresponding plurality of microchambers for testing the affect of a treatment on degradation of viability of the cells;
- means for alternately loading hydrostatic pressure and suction cyclically over a period of time t for providing mechanical stress on the cells sufficiently to accelerate the degradation of viability of the cells;
- means for counting a number of cells n.sub.0 prior to and a number of cells n after the loading by said means for loading that have one of a broken and a normal form indicative of viability;
- and
- means for calculating the biological viability of the cells as a function of n, n.sub.0 and t.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.