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The goal of this project is to design an imaging chamber to be used with a high-powered inverted microscope in order to maintain a stable environment for long duration live cell imaging. Some systems are available on the market, but they cost thousands of dollars and would require a new microscope. The motivation for our project is to provide an economical alternative to these designs. Our design features a solenoid valve that opens when CO2 concentration is low in order to keep the chamber at 5 ± 0.5% \[CO2\].
We have completed our chamber but were only able to test it with a 19 volt power supply instead of a 24 volt power supply. As a result, we measured a 4.51% average concentration of carbon dioxide in the chamber instead of the desired 5%. We believe that if a 24 volt power supply is used, an average concentration of 5% carbon dioxide will be achieved, though it remains to be tested how far the concentration deviates from this mean over time. It takes about 3 minutes and 15 seconds for our chamber to warm up, and we calculated that (5% carbon dioxide) air leaks from our chamber at an average rate of 13.2 milliliters per minute. Therefore, we expect that when our client uses a 50 liter tank of pure carbon dioxide, it will last him about 63 hours.
From left to right: Andrew Dias, Val Maharaj, Jeremy Schaefer, Justin Lundell, Mike Socie
Left: The chamber connected to the carbon dioxide sensor and the solenoid valve.
Right: Closer view of the imaging chamber.
The solenoid valve.
The circuit the team used to open the solenoid valve based on an input voltage from the carbon dioxide sensor.
The carbon dioxide sensor tested on human exhalation. When the percentage of carbon dioxide is below 4.5%, the solenoid valve opens, otherwise it closes.
| Week | Reporting Period Beginning | Activities |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 7 | Assigned team roles, obtained contact information, met with client. Started thinking about design. |
| 2 | September 14 | Worked on design ideas and brainstormed |
| 3 | September 21 | Worked on sketching and designing. Met with client again. |
| 4 | September 28 | Started design matrix, met with professors Palecek and Ogle to refine our ideas. |
| 5 | October 5 | Thought about final designs, but still need to meet with client again to discuss his changing requirements. |
| 6 | October 12 | Met with client. Completed midsemester presentation and worked on midsemester report. |
| 7 | October 19 | Completed midsemester report. Started researching parts that we want to order to build a prototype. |
| 8 | October 26 | Met with client and decided to change final design. Continued to compile a list of parts that we want to order. Set deadline for ordering parts. |
| 9 | November 2 | Did not meet deadline for ordering parts because our client was out of town -- we could not meet with him. We met with professor Webster to discuss the circuit design and made some revisions. We continued to look for parts that would be compatible with each other. |
| 10 | November 9 | Received solenoid valve, regulator, and tubing. Started planning for making and testing a circuit with a variable power supply. |
| 11 | November 16 | Tested previous team’s circuit and found that voltages are correct because the 5-5-5 timer inverts them (though inversion is undesirable). The team took a well-deserved break for Thanksgiving and collectively gained 50 pounds from eating turkey. |
| 12 | November 23 | Worked on the prototype. Made a layout of final poster. |
| 13 | November 30 | Tested prototype with a tank of pure carbon dioxide, but used a 19 volt power supply instead of a 24 volt power supply and therefore measured a low average concentration of carbon dioxide inside the chamber. Finished final poster. |
| 14 | December 7 | Presented poster and finished final report. |
| 15 | December 14 |
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Midsemester Presentation (Oct 17 2007, 946 kb) |
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Project Design Specification (Oct 19 2007, 54 kb) |
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Midsemester Design Report (Oct 23 2007, 221 kb) |
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Final Poster (Dec 11 2007, 803 kb) |
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Final Design Report (Dec 12 2007, 803 kb) |
