Figure 2

Culture subsystem and sampling and dispensing subsystem. (a) Subsystem composition: PC, Block of culture maintenance and biochemical stimulation, Culture environment for cellular tissue such as dish and chip, Biosensing block consisting subsystem of sampling and dispensing with an analyzer. A terminal block connected the PC with electrical equipment for subsystems. Photograph of fluidic systems of a pump and valves in the incubator are also presented. The fluidic systems were connected to a 10 cm dish for culture of cellular tissue. (b) Flow chart of an algorism for PC-control of sampling. Sampling operation progresses in four steps: Circulating, Sampling, Drainage, Waiting. (c) Sequential photographs of liquid distribution in a culture dish, which was uniformized by the circulating step. The red-colored liquid was uniformly distributed. (d) Measurement of l-lactic acid as a metabolite from the SM cellular tissue. In the evaluation, sampling performance of an automated sampling subsystem were compared with sampling by manual pipetting as control. (e) Measurement result of l-lactic acid as a metabolite from the SM cellular tissue (n = 3 in each condition). l-lactic acid increased in the same way for both automated and manual sampling. Note that automated sampling was available at 12 and 18 h.