About CellASIC
CellASIC Mission:
CellASIC is dedicated to advancing biomedical research by developing microfluidic platforms for cell and tissue based applications.
Origins of CellASIC:
The company was founded in 2005 by researchers at the leading edge of bioengineering. CellASIC was formed based on the realization that a new generation of tools is necessary to foster the next breakthrough in the biomedical revolution. Specifically, the technology enables the precise control and large scale analysis of the basic unit of life-- a living cell.
Product Focus:
In recent decades, tremendous advances have been made in our understanding of the molecular biology of life. This has impacted the pharmaceutical industy such that individual genes, protein binding sites, and chemical/biological structures can now be identified and targeted to develop improved therapeutics.
However, a major technological challenge remains to investigate how the complex interactions of these individual components result in clinically relevant behaviors.
CellASIC addresses this bottleneck by providing precise microfabricated environments to improve the functionality of cell-based experimentation.
ONIX Dynamic Cell Culture Platform
The ONIX™ Dynamic Cell Culture Platform delivers unprecedented control for live cell imaging experiments. The system integrates with your existing microscope system to enable dynamic time-lapse experiments never before possible. Cutting edge microfluidics technology provides an improved cell culture microenvironment, exceptional quality for high magnification microscopy, and superior media switching capabilities.
Systems
The ONIX™ systems allow the user to control flows through the microfluidic plates.
ONIX Flow Control System
The ONIX Perfusion System was developed by CellASIC to overcome the limitations encountered with traditional microfluidics setups. Operations that used to take expert engineers hours of tedious tinkering can now be performed in a few minutes on any benchtop. This system is the equivalent of 8 syringe pumps, a perfusion chamber apparatus, and a CO2 incubator— at a fraction of the cost and greatly improved quality and ease of use.
A low-profile manifold connects the control system with the microfluidic plates. The manifold is set on top of the wells of the plate, and forms an air tight seal using a vacuum mechanism. The wells are addressed with pneumatic pressure to drive liquids into the microfluidic channels. There is no contact between the flow system and the biological solutions (on the microfluidic plate), preventing contamination and lengthy clean-up. Various manifold layouts are available to address different plate formats and application types.
• 8 channel perfusion system |
Microfluidic Plates
There are three different types of plates; Yeast, Mammalian and Bacterial. All three versions have four independent flow units (with identical flow properties) and allow simultaneous imaging of four sets of cell/medium combinations. Perfusion culture allows cells to be kept alive for at least 3 days, which is also helped by the plates only needing tiny amounts of liquids. There is an option of temperature and gas control also available for each plate.
Yeast Microfluidic plates
- Fig.1 overhead labled diagram of plate
- Fig.2 reconstruction of live yeast cells
The Yeast Microfluidic plates (Y04C and Y04D) are optimised for time lapsed imaging of yeast cells with solution exchange. The yeast plates have a unique cell trapping region that holds the yeast cells in a uniform focal plane for time-lapse cell microscopy during perfusion flow. Four upstream solution reservoirs allow rapid switching of the exposure solution during time-lapsed imaging to monitor real time cell responses.
The Y-series plates offer variable trapping heights, as well as special plates for Diploid yeast. Tracking daughter cells is easy due to cells dividing in the same (in focus) plane, which in turn is trapped in between 2 optical glass cover-slips. Another benefit of the trapped cells is that they don't move in and out of focus meaning that they are ideal for long time-lapse movies.
Yeast plate variants
Y04C - Y04C-02 Yeast Perfusion Plate (3.5-5 um)
Y04D - Y04D-02 Yeast Perfusion Plate (5-7 um)
Features and Benefits
- Elastic trap sites holds cells in single foal plane for 16+ hours
- 4 independant chambers under a single imaging window
- Laminar flow switching between 6 inlet solutions
- 170 um thick glass bottom for high quality imaging.
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Mammalian Microfluidic plates
The Mammalian Microfluidic plate enables time lapsed imaging of cultured mammalian cells with solution switching. The Microfluidic cell culture region ensures optimal cell health during long term microscopy studies.
In this plate, the cells are loaded very gently to avoid any damage that may be caused to the cell. These cells also have the advantage of being adherent so have no need to be trapped.
Mammalian Plate Variants
M04S - M04S-03 Perfusion Switching Plate
M04L - M04L-03 Open-top Switching Plate (formerly M04O)
M04G - M04G-02 Gradient Plate (2D and 3D)
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Bacterial Microfluidic Plates
The Bacterial Microfluidic plate (B04A) is optimised for time-lapsed imaging of bacteria cells with solution exchange. The unique Microfluidic cell trapping region holds bacteria cells in a uniform focal plane for time-lapse cell microscopy during perfusion flow.
The B04A plate has an elastic ceiling that traps the bacteria cells, in an area between 0.9-1.4 microns. The trapping site also prevents the cells from moving in and out of focus, meaning it is suitable for use in long time-lapse videos. The microfluidic network also ensures rapid laminar flow exchange and elimination of cross flows between the exposure channels.
Bacterial Plate Type
B04A - B04A-02 Bacteria Perfusion Plate (0.7-3.5 um)
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Fission yeast division in Y04D microfluidic chamber
Cell division of E. Coli with continous media flow
Please contact Image Solutions at info@imsol.co.uk for further details