Top view of I-Glove glovebox with open incubator inside. Left hinge on incubator door opens against rear wall. Workspace for technician between airlock on the left and incubator on the right is sufficient for most culture manipulations. 

 

 

Top view of I-Glove for incubator with right hinge. Door opens against rear wall, but airlock is to the right of the technician and the incubator is to the left.

 

 

Top view of I-Glove for incubator with right hinge and door closed.

 

 

Top view of right hinge incubator inside I-Glove. Incubator door is open and a SubChamber (C-Chamber) sits inside incubator. SubChamber is opened as well, with tray fully extended into workspace. All sorts of SubChambers can be operated inside incubator inside I-Glove.

 

 

Top view of I-Glove glove box/incubator (with right hinge) and incubator door opened, and opened C-Chamber inside incubator with tray fully extended into workspace. An additional open C-Chamber or T-Chamber (transport chamber) is shown inside the airlock (pass through chamber) with its tray fully extended into opposite side of the workspace. Utilizing BioSpherix SubChamber Systems for growth and transport from remote locations the I-Glove configurations offer versatility and central processing capability for many applications.

Typical Configuration

Control O₂ and/or CO₂ in gloved workspace.

 

Chambers and vessels are moved in and out through the airlock. It is large enough to receive a wide range of SubChambers and specialized culture vessels. This allows you to integrate the I-Glove and your existing incubator with many other specialized cell culture systems from BioSpherix and possibly others.

The I-Glove glovebox encloses a standard cell culture incubator. Inside it also provides a workspace equivalent in size to a standard small hood. The technician works in gloves, seam-welded into a flexible plastic window. Visibility is good. The workspace is well lit by ambient room lighting. The flexible window allows maximum mobility with maximum comfort. The atmosphere inside the I-Glove can be O2/CO2 controlled to optimize conditions outside the incubator. An airlock separates the inside from the outside. Aseptic conditions inside and isolation from the technicians and the room air outside minimizes chance of contamination. The I-Glove can also provide a protective barrier against worrisome viruses, vectors, prions, and other infectious agents.

Uninterruptibility

When working in an I-Glove your cells are never exposed to sub-optimal conditions. Conditions in the workspace are maintained to match the conditions in your incubator. Random variations in O₂/CO₂/pH have a negative impact on cells, which can lead to inconsistent results. With the I-Glove you can culture and process your cells under uninterrupted optimal conditions eliminating the random fluctuations that cells typically see when processed in an open hood.

5% of the Genome is regulated by oxygen.

Clinical evidence is mounting regarding oxygen's role in gene expression. Differences in culture and processing conditions lead to inconsistent results.

Contamination

In open labs with open hoods, cells and researchers share the critical workspace most of the time. The majority of contamination in labs is caused by humans and their bioburden. With a closed environment provided with the I-Glove the main source of contamination is removed.

Humans and Their Bioburden A person speaking normally can send particulate and biological contamination (saliva) a distance of 2-3 feet, coughing (saliva and lung tissue) 4-6 feet and sneezing 10-15 feet at a speed of 200 mph.  Theobold, D. USP797: “Personal training” CLEANROOMS p.14 March )%

I-Gloves protect the researchers

Cells are often purposely grown and processed to generate or test viruses and vectors. More worrisome is when cells are unknowingly infected with viruses or other transmissible agents. The I-Glove will limit exposure to possibly harmful viruses, vectors and prions where conventional open labs allow the technicians to breathe dangerous non-cellular biological entities.

Softside gloves are most comfortable and flexible. Iris ports are also an option instead of gloves.

I-Glove Performance

The I-Glove accommodates most standard CO₂ incubators. Access to the incubator door is easy via the soft comfortable glove front. The cells can then be brought out into the workspace for uninterrupted optimal cell processing.

I-Glove is compatible with all BioSpherix gas controllers.

SubChambers, other types of transport chambers, and cell processing materials can also be passed into the I-Glove via the pass through chamber.

I-Glove antechamber receives chambers C-174, C-274, and C-374. Cultures can easily be moved from their host incubator, without disturbance of O₂ and/or CO₂.

Lighting options available.