JPH0615154A - Bubbling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the bubbling device which can efficiently dissolve and absorb released bubbles into a preserving liquid and can dissolve and absorb the bubbles uniformly over the entire part of the preserving liquid. CONSTITUTION:This bubbling device has a gas release surface 12 for releasing the gas supplied from the outside in a fine bubble form into the liquid. This gas release surface 12 is formed of porous ceramics 9a to 9d having numerous fine continuous open cells.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bubble generator for supplying a gas such as oxygen into a cell preservation solution in the form of bubbles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the field of physiology, cell analysis for observing and analyzing living cells with a microscope or the like occupies an important position. In order to carry out this cell analysis, it is necessary to collect a cell-containing mass (tissue) from a living body and prepare a thin section containing the cells by, for example, a rotor slicer. The collected tissue is immersed and preserved in a preservation solution in a preservation container until it is sliced. In order to keep cells alive in the preservation solution, appropriate amounts of oxygen (O ₂ ) and carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) were dissolved in the preservation solution, and the cells survived in the living body. It is necessary to create a similar environment.

For this reason, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 1, for example, a container 1 containing a storage solution 101 has a bottom portion 1
Or two bubblers (also referred to as bubblers) 103 are submerged, and a mixture of oxygen and carbon dioxide gas is supplied to each bubbler 103 from the outside through the air supply pipe 104, and the surface 105 of the bubbler 103 is supplied. The bubbles are discharged into the storage solution 101.

Each bubble generator 103 is made of a glass ball that has been subjected to a porous treatment, but instead of this, a bubble generator 107 made of a rubber tube having a large number of pinholes 106 is used as shown in FIG. In some cases.

[0005]

However, since the continuous pores formed in the glass ball by the porosity treatment and the pinhole 106 have a relatively large diameter, the bubbles to be discharged become relatively large. For example, in the case of the bubble generator 103 made of a glass ball, the average diameter of bubbles is about 1 to several mm,
In the case of the bubble generator 107 made of a rubber tube, the average diameter of bubbles is about 0.1 to 2 mm. Therefore, there is a drawback that the air-fuel mixture is not efficiently dissolved or absorbed in the storage liquid 101, the amount of air-fuel mixture supplied increases, and the running cost increases.

A bubble generator 10 made of a glass ball is also provided.
In the case of 3, since the pores for discharging bubbles are limited to the surface thereof, it is difficult for the bubbles to diffuse around the pores, and it becomes difficult to dissolve or absorb the air-fuel mixture in the entire preservation liquid 101 on average. Become. In the case of the bubble generator 107 made of a rubber tube having a pinhole, the bubble generator 107 is attached to the container 10
By arranging in a horseshoe shape, a spiral shape or the like along the bottom of 2, the pinholes 106 can be distributed evenly with respect to the cross section of the container 102, and the bubbles can be dispersed in a wider range in the preservation liquid 101. Can be supplied.

However, even in this case, the pinhole 1
The distribution density of 06 cannot be made higher than a certain level in production, and dissatisfaction still remains from the viewpoint of discharging bubbles as uniformly as possible. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is a foaming device capable of efficiently dissolving or absorbing released bubbles in a preservative solution and more uniformly dissolving or absorbing the bubbles throughout the preservative solution. The purpose is to provide a container.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a bubble extractor according to the present invention comprises a gas discharge surface for discharging gas supplied from the outside into a liquid in the form of fine bubbles. It is characterized in that the gas emission surface is formed of a porous ceramic having numerous continuous micropores.

[0009]

[Operation] Porous ceramics have an infinite number of fine continuous pores with an average pore size of about 20 μm or less.
Very small bubbles of about 40 μm are released into the storage solution. Moreover, since the distribution density of the fine continuous pores of the porous ceramics is very high, for example, 30 to 40%, the bubbles are discharged on average over the entire surface of the porous ceramics.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cell storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The cell storage device includes, for example, oxygen (O ₂ ) supplied from an oxygen supply source 1 composed of a commercially available oxygen cylinder, and Carbon dioxide gas (CO ₂ ) supplied from a carbon dioxide gas supply source 2 composed of a commercially available carbon dioxide gas cylinder is mixed by a gas mixer 3, pressurized by a pump 4, and impurities mainly composed of solid matter are removed by a filter 5, and further, After being sterilized by the sterilization device 6, the preservative solution 7 is supplied to the foaming device 9 in the container 8.

There are two or more kinds of gas mixers 3 (two kinds here).
It suffices if it is configured so that the gas of can be mixed at a predetermined mixing ratio. Here, in order to correspond to the survival condition of human brain cells,
Oxygen and carbon dioxide are mixed at a volume ratio of 95: 5. The pump 4 is provided as needed,
Comprised a mixture of oxygen and carbon dioxide to discharge at a pressure of 0.1kg / cm ² ~1kg / cm ² is omitted pump 4 when the supply pressure of the gas mixture is sufficiently high May be.

When the pressure of the air-fuel mixture supplied to the bubble generation air 9 described later is less than 0.1 kg / cm ² , the preservative solution 7 for the air-fuel mixture is used.
It is not preferable because the supply amount to the inside becomes difficult and the supply amount may be insufficient. Further, if the pressure of the air-fuel mixture supplied to the bubble-exhaust gas 9 exceeds 1 kg / cm ² , the supply amount becomes excessive, and the diameter of the bubble grows too large, which is not preferable.

The filter 5 only needs to be constructed so as to be able to remove impurities mainly composed of solid matter, and may be a wet filter in which gas passes through a filtrate such as water or oil.
It may be a dry filter in which gas passes through a porous body such as filter paper, sponge, or ceramics. But filter 5
Are provided as needed and can be omitted.

The sterilizer 6 may be constructed so as to sterilize or sterilize the bacteria, microorganisms, etc. contained in the mixture, for example, using light rays having a sterilizing or sterilizing action such as ultraviolet rays, or sterilizing. It may be possible to use a drug having an action. The storage solution 7 is not particularly limited as long as it is a liquid suitable for storing cells, and for example, physiological saline solution,
Pure water, or a liquid obtained by adding one or more of such agents as antibiotics, nutrients, bactericides, antibacterial agents, etc., which are beneficial for cell preservation, and microorganisms such as bacteria, etc., which are beneficial for cell preservation. Is used.

The container 8 is made of a material, such as stainless steel, glass, and chemically stable synthetic resin, which is harmless to the preservation of cells and does not change the properties of the preservation solution 7. The container 8 may have any shape as long as the cell mass can be easily taken in and out. For example, the container 8 has a bottomed cylindrical shape.
The foaming device 9 according to one embodiment of the present invention includes four porous ceramic tubes 9a to 9d connected in a quadrilateral frame shape as shown in FIG. 4 and one of them. And a joint 10 made of, for example, a glass tube, which is fixed by inserting one end into the connection hole 9e formed in.

The composition of each of the porous ceramics tubes 9a to 9d is not particularly limited, but it is preferable that the composition is such that after sintering, continuous pores having an average pore diameter of 0.1 μm to 20 μm or less are formed inside. The average pore size of continuous pores is 20
If it exceeds about μm, the diameter of the bubbles to be released exceeds about 40 μm, and it becomes difficult for the bubbles to be dissolved or absorbed in the storage liquid 7, which is not preferable. Further, if the average pore diameter of the continuous pores is less than about 0.1 μm, the ventilation resistance becomes too large, which is not preferable.

In this embodiment, each porous ceramic tube is made of Noritake Co., Ltd. and is a ceramic obtained by sintering a ceramic material (trade name FS-90) containing 90% by weight of alumina (Al ₂ O ₃ ). 9a to 9d, the porosity is 30 to 45%, the bulk specific gravity is 2.5 to 3.0,
The average pore diameter is 3 to 20 μm. Both end surfaces of each of the porous ceramic tubes 9a to 9d are formed so as to be inclined at 45 ° in mutually opposite directions with respect to the center axis thereof and are bonded to each other with an adhesive, and the joint 10 is attached to the connection hole 9e with an adhesive. And the sterilizer 6 through the rubber hose 11
Connected to. And each porous ceramics tube 9a-
The entire surface of 9d constitutes the bubble emitting surface 12.

In this cell storage device, pores having an average pore diameter of 3 to 20 μm are formed on the air bubble emitting surface 12 of the air bubble 9 having a porosity of 3%.
Since it is distributed in a high density of 0 to 45%, 0.1 kg / cm ²
When the air-fuel mixture is supplied to the air bubble 9 at a pressure of ˜1 kg / cm ² , air bubbles having a diameter of about 30 to 40 μm are uniformly discharged over the entire bubble discharge surface 12. The bubbles cannot be observed with the naked eye, and the presence of the bubbles can be confirmed by observing that the transparency of the preservative solution 7 decreases in the portion where the bubbles are present due to the change in the refractive index of transmitted light. Since no bubbles are generated on the liquid surface of the preservative liquid 7, it can be seen that the bubbles are completely dissolved or absorbed in the preservative liquid 7.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the bubble blower 9 is formed in a quadrilateral frame shape, but the shape of the bubble blower 9 is not particularly limited, and for example, a polygonal shape such as a triangular frame shape or a hexagonal frame shape. It may be formed in a frame shape, an annular frame shape, an elliptic ring frame shape, a spiral tube shape, a horseshoe shape tube shape, or a mat shape as shown in FIG.
It may be formed in a flat box shape as shown in FIG. In another embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 5, a combustible core that burns and is exhausted at the time of sintering is used, and a comb-shaped branch air passage 19a is provided in a foamer 19 made of mat-like ceramics. And a trunk ventilation path 19b for communicating the branch ventilation path 19a with the outside.

In the bubble dispenser 19, the upper side surface mainly serves as the bubble discharge surface 12. The other configurations of the bubble blower 19 are the same as those of the bubble blower 9 of the above-described embodiment, and the action and effect thereof are the same as those of the above-described one except that the bubbles can be uniformly discharged over a wide range in the horizontal direction. Since it is similar to the example, description common to the previous example is omitted to avoid duplication.

In still another embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 6, the foaming device 29 is formed in a flat box shape including a body 29a and a lid 29b. The body 29a is made of a non-porous material, such as stainless steel, glass, and chemically stable synthetic resin, which is harmless to the preservation of cells and does not change the properties of the preservation solution 7. The lid 29b is made of the same ceramic as that of the porous ceramic tubes 9a to 9d. The space 29c formed between the body 29a and the lid 29b has a function of attenuating the dynamic pressure of the air-fuel mixture supplied via the joint 29c, whereby bubbles are uniformly applied from the entire surface of the lid 29a. Will be released.

Other constitutions, operations and effects of this embodiment are the same as those of the above-mentioned respective examples, and therefore their explanations are omitted to avoid duplication.

[0023]

As described above, since the bubble discharge surface of the bubble extractor of the present invention is made of porous ceramics,
Bubbles having a diameter of about 30 to 40 μm can be uniformly discharged over the entire bubble discharge surface, and the bubbles can be efficiently dissolved or absorbed in the storage solution, and the bubbles can be dissolved or absorbed in the storage solution on average. Can be
The running cost can be reduced by eliminating waste of the component gas of the air-fuel mixture.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a main part of a cell storage device including a conventional example.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another conventional example.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a cell storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 7 Preservative Liquid 9 Foamer 9a Porous Ceramics Tube 9b Porous Ceramics Tube 9c Porous Ceramics Tube 9d Porous Ceramics Tube 12 Bubble Ejecting Surface 19 Foamer 29 Foamer 29b Lid

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A gas discharge surface for discharging a gas supplied from the outside into a liquid in the form of fine bubbles, and the gas discharge surface is formed of a porous ceramic having innumerable fine continuous pores. A whisk. 2. The bubble generator according to claim 1, wherein the average pore diameter of the fine continuous pores is about 20 μm or less.