Patent ID: 7885000
Filing Date: 2011-02-08
Classification: C12M,G02B

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for imaging cells, comprising: a culture chamber comprising a heater configured to adjust a temperature of the culture chamber; a separate cultivation substructure comprising a subchamber placed in the culture chamber, the subchamber being isolated from conditions in the culture chamber such that the subchamber can be provided with a desired gas composition; imaging optics comprising a microscope having an objective, a focusing motor and a camera; actuators for providing the relative movement of the cultivation substructure and the imaging optics in such a way that different sites of the substructure are imaged by the imaging optics by moving the imaging optics and the subchamber in relation to each other; said subchamber being arranged movable inside the culture chamber in relation to the imaging optics for imaging said different sites of the substructure; the objective of the microscope of the imaging optics being introduced into the culture chamber from outside the culture chamber through a sealed opening such that the focusing motor and the camera are outside of the culture chamber; and the subchamber being arranged movable by a manipulator arranged outside the culture chamber, wherein the manipulator comprises an arm, said arm being introduced into the culture chamber via a lead-through slot on one side of the culture change, and wherein the arm comprises an opening through which the substructure is configured to be imaged.