Cell Culture Apparatus, Cell Culture Method, Cell Culture Program and Cell Culture System
First Claim
1. A cell culture apparatus comprising:
- a culture vessel for culturing cells;
a culture medium storage unit for storing a culture medium supplied to the culture vessel;
an image acquiring unit for acquiring images of the cells in the culture vessel; and
a control unit for determining the culture state of the cells from the images of the cells acquired by the image acquiring unit and causing a culture operation to be carried out on the basis of the determination.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention intends to provide a cell culture apparatus which is able to realize an adequate culture according to the culture state of cells while alleviating the labor of an operator. The cell culture apparatus includes a culture bag for causing the cells to proliferate, a cell inoculation cassette (or culture bag as an antibody stimulating and proliferation culture vessel) for stimulating the cells by an inducer for the proliferation, a culture medium cassette for storing a culture medium supplied to the culture bag and the cell inoculation cassette, a CCD camera 88 for acquiring images of the cells in the cell inoculation cassette, and an image processing computer and an operation control computer for determining the culture state (proliferation capability and proliferation ability of the cells) of the cells from the images of the cells acquired by the CCD camera, and causing a culture operation to be carried out on the basis of the determination.
39 Citations
66 Claims
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1. A cell culture apparatus comprising:
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a culture vessel for culturing cells; a culture medium storage unit for storing a culture medium supplied to the culture vessel; an image acquiring unit for acquiring images of the cells in the culture vessel; and a control unit for determining the culture state of the cells from the images of the cells acquired by the image acquiring unit and causing a culture operation to be carried out on the basis of the determination. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 26, 27, 28)
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14. A cell culture method comprising:
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acquiring images of cells in a culture vessel for culturing cells by an image acquiring unit; determining the culture state of the cells from the images of the cells acquired by the image acquiring unit; and carrying out a culture operation in the culture vessel on the basis of the determination. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 29, 30, 31)
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24. A cell culture program stored in a computer for carrying out the cell culture comprising:
- a step of acquiring images of cells in a culture vessel for culturing cells by an image acquiring unit;
a step of determining the culture state of the cells from the images of the cells acquired by the image acquiring unit; and
a step of carrying out a culture operation in the culture vessel on the basis of the determination.
- a step of acquiring images of cells in a culture vessel for culturing cells by an image acquiring unit;
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25. A cell culture program stored in a computer for culturing cells comprising;
- a step of acquiring images of cells in a function expressing culture vessel for causing the cells to express the functions thereof by an image acquiring unit;
a step of determining the culture state of the cells from the images of the cells acquired by the image acquiring unit; and
a step of carrying out a culture operation in at least one of the function expressing culture vessel and the proliferation culture vessel for causing the cells to proliferate on the basis of the determination.
- a step of acquiring images of cells in a function expressing culture vessel for causing the cells to express the functions thereof by an image acquiring unit;
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32. A cell culture system for culturing cells and monitoring and controlling the culture comprising:
- a incubator having a plurality of culture units in which culture vessels for culturing cells are disposed respectively so as to be apart from each other for culturing the cells under culture environments independent for the individual culture unit; and
a control unit for collecting and accumulating cell culture-related data relating to the cell culture for the individual culture unit in the incubator, monitoring the culture state of the cells for the individual culture unit on the basis of the cell culture-related data and controlling a culture operation of the cells. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
- a incubator having a plurality of culture units in which culture vessels for culturing cells are disposed respectively so as to be apart from each other for culturing the cells under culture environments independent for the individual culture unit; and
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42. A cell culture method for culturing cells and monitoring and controlling the culture comprising:
- disposing a incubator having a plurality of culture units in which culture vessels for culturing cells respectively are disposed so as to be apart from each other for culturing the cells under culture environments independent for the individual culture units;
collecting and accumulating cell culture-related data relating to the cell culture for the individual culture unit in the incubator, monitoring the culture state of the cells for the individual culture unit on the basis of the cell culture-related data to control a culture operation of the cells. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45)
- disposing a incubator having a plurality of culture units in which culture vessels for culturing cells respectively are disposed so as to be apart from each other for culturing the cells under culture environments independent for the individual culture units;
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46. A cell culture program stored in a computer for culturing cells and monitoring and controlling the culture comprising:
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a step of collecting and accumulating cell culture-related data relating to the cell culture individually for a plurality of culture units in a incubator, the culture unit each having a culture vessel for culturing cells disposed therein, the incubator having the plurality of culture units arranged therein so as to be apart from each other for culturing the cells under culture environments independent for the individual culture units; a step of monitoring the culture state of the cells for the individual culture unit on the basis of the cell culture-related data; and a step of controlling a culture operation of the cells for the individual culture unit on the basis of the cell culture-related data.
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- 47. A cell culture apparatus, wherein a plurality of culture vessels for culturing cells are connected in series, and the respective culture vessels are adapted to culture the cells in different culture environments, transfer the cultured cells to the culture vessel on the downstream side to culture the same.
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53. A cell culture method comprising:
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culturing cells in different culture environments in a plurality of culture vessels; and transferring the cells cultured in one of the culture vessels to different culture vessels on the downstream side in one-to-one correspondence in sequence to carry out the culture. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. A cell culture apparatus comprising:
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a culture vessel for culturing cells; and a platform for placing the culture vessel, wherein the platform includes a portion which is able to move upward and downward, and the upward and downward movement of the portion which is able to move upward and downward changes the area of the culture vessel placed thereon which is able to be used for the culture. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66)
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Specification