Patent ID: 7326385

Claim:
An assembly for supporting a tissue which is to be bathed in a media that is regularly aspirated and refreshed by a top-loading pipette device, said assembly comprising: a porous frit; and a body having an upper surface, said body defining: a first hole having a first hole upper edge defined by the upper surface of the body and a first hole bottom portion defined within the body and below the upper surface of the body, said first hole being configured to receive the porous frit and the tissue and to hold the media bathing the porous frit and the tissue; a crescent-shaped ledge protruding into the first hole bottom portion and configured to support the frit thereon; and a second hole having a second hole upper edge defined by the upper surface of the body and a second hole bottom portion defined within the body and below the upper surface of the body, the second hole bottom portion being connected in fluid communication with the first hole bottom portion such that the pipette device can access the first hole through the second hole upper edge to aspirate the media through vacuum application and refresh the media by pumping in fresh media without removal of the tissue and the porous frit from the plate.