Microscope Cell Culture Incubator
We built a custom cell culture incubator to fit onto our Nikon Eclipse Ti-U microscope. The microscope is equipped with a motorized stage and C1 confocal scanner so cutouts were included to ensure full movement of the stage and clearance around the confocal unit. Additional cable passthroughs were included to allow for inserting tubes and cables into the incubator. The acrylic pannels were first tapped together and test fit to the microscope. Once the fit was confirmed, the pannels were glued together using Weld-On #4 acrylic adheasive and triangle seams were added to the inside for additional strength. We also built a cover using blackout cloth for fluorescent imaging.
The incubator was heated using a small ceramic heater with 2 outputs and 2 recirculated inputs. The heat was pumped into the incubator at the bottom (input) and returned back to the heater from the top (output). A PID temperature controller and switch were used to set the incubator temperature. The incubator was preheated approximatly 1 hr in advance to achieve uniform temperature distribution and avoid focus drift.
A 100% CO2 tank was used to supply CO2 (mixed with air to achieve 5%) locally within the incubator using a chamber insert (coupled with our universial stage holder). Alternativly, a 5% CO2 tank could be used to directly but would run out faster. The CO2 was humidified by passing it through a bubbler inside the incubator.
The files are available below:
- Nikon Ti Incubator acrylic panels (DXF)
- Nikon Ti2 Incubator acrylic panels (DXF)
- 3D Printed Parts (STL)