Temperature control of incubation vessels using electrically conducting polymers
AssigneeThe Secretary of State for Defence in Her Britannic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
InventorsMartin A Lee, Dario L Leslie, Paul Moore
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Abstract
The use of incubation means for the controlled heating of biological materials, said means comprising an electrically conducting polymer connectable to a power supply, said polymer being either contiguous or integral with an incubation vessel, or adapted to be in thermal contact with an incubation vessel. Incubation apparatus including such means and a method for culturing biological materials using them are also described and claimed.
Claims16
An incubation chamber for the culture of biological materials comprising an incubation vessel and heating means comprising an electrically conducting polymer connectable to an electrical supply, and control means for controlling the supply of current to the heating means, said control means being programmed to maintain a culture temperature within the incubation vessel.
Incubation apparatus for the culture of biological material, said apparatus comprising an incubation vessel, an electrically conducting polymer which is either contiguous or integral with the incubation vessel, or positioned in thermal contact with the incubation vessel, a means for generating an electrical current within the electrically conducting polymer and a means for controlling the electrical current within the electrically conducting polymer so as to maintain a culture temperature within the incubation vessel.
A method of culturing a biological material which method comprises:
- (a) placing the biological material and a culture medium in an incubation vessel which has an electrically conducting polymer that is either contiguous, integral or in thermal contact with the incubation vessel, and
- (b) supplying a current to the electrically conducting polymer so as to cause the incubation vessel to reach and maintain a predetermined temperature so as to cause culture of the biological material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.