DEVELOPING A COMPACT AND LOW-COST LONG-TERM LIVE-CELL

IMAGING PLATFORM FOR BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH AND

EDUCATION PURPOSE (SCBE06)

CHUA YA XUAN

MENTOR: DR PUI TZE SIAN

INTRODUCTION

• LIVING THINGS ARE MADE UP OF CELLS AND CELLS ARE MADE UP OF

THOUSANDS OF MOLECULES THAT INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER.

• IN ORDER TO MAKE NEW DISCOVERIES ABOUT THE CELLULAR DYNAMICS AND

DEVELOP DRUGS TO COMBAT DISEASES THAT ARISE FROM DYSFUNCTIONAL

CELLS, SCIENTISTS ARE REQUIRED TO STUDY THE CONSTANTLY CHANGING

PATTERNS OF THESE MOLECULES

CURRENT METHODS

• LONGITUDINAL STUDIES

• TIME LAPSE MICROSCOPY

LIMITATIONS

COSTLYCELLS ARE NOT IN

OPTIMUM CONDITION BULKY

AIM

• MAKE USE OF 3D PRINTING, THE PROTOTYPING TECHNOLOGY, TO COME UP

WITH A COMPACT, LOW-COST AND EASY-TO-OPERATE LIVE-CELL IMAGING

PLATFORM FOR BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PURPOSE

ENGINEERING GOALS

PHYSICAL FUCTIONAL

HUMIDITYTEMPERATURELOW-COSTCOMPACT

METHODOLOGY-HOUSING-

3D MODEL OF THE TOP VIEW OF INCUBATOR 3D MODEL OF THE SIDE VIEW OF INCUBATOR

• CAD software

• Acrylic glass

Holder for

CO2 sensor

Temperature &

humidity sensor

METHODOLOGY-MICROCONTROLLER-

• Arduino open-source Integrated

Development Environment

• C++ coding language

METHODOLOGY-INCUBATOR SYSTEM-

Top-view of the entire physical set-up Close-up view of incubator

Close-up view of LED panel

RESULTS-TEMPERATURE-

Graph of temperature against time to test how long the

incubator takes to reach the ideal temperature of 28 ˚C

• From a temperature of 24.4˚C, it took

85 minutes for the temperature to rise

to 28˚C, the optimum temperature we

aim to sustain throughout the

experiment.

RESULTS-TEMPERATURE-

Graph of temperature against time to test the stability of

the incubator in maintaining the optimum temperature

• Temperature only increases by 0.5˚C

in the next hour from 28˚C.

RESULTS-TEMPERATURE-

𝑻 =𝟏

𝑷 + 𝑩 + 𝑷𝟑 × 𝑪 + 𝑨− 𝟐𝟕𝟑. 𝟏𝟓

STEINHART-HART EQUATION

𝑃 = ln𝑅𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 × 𝑉𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑦

𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡− 𝑅𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑

T: Temperature in degree Celsius

A,B,C are Steinhart-Hart coefficients

A: 1.129148 × 10-3

B: 2.34125 × 10-4

C: 8.76741 × 10-8

• Software-based feedback loop using

the mean temperature

• Used to sustain temperature at 28 ˚C

RESULTS-HUMIDITY-

Graph of humidity against time to test the ability of the

incubator in maintaining an optimal humidity range

• 2 wells with 10ml of water each were

used during the experiment

• Humidity level of 85%-95% is ideal

• At the optimum temperature of 28 ˚C,

humidity increases from 86.8% to

90.3%.

DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS

Incubator

designed

Incubators on

the market

(average)

Size 17.5 cm x

12 cm x 7 cm

0.654g

28 cm x

20 cm x 9 cm

1.5 kg

Cost <$120 $15000-$20000

with microscope

CONCLUSION

PHYSICAL FUCTIONAL

TEMPERATURELOW-COSTCOMPACT HUMIDITY

ENGINEERING GOALS

FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS

HEATING ELEMENT VENTILATOR