We have a cell line that requires 10% CO2 and we have used a FYRITE device to measure the CO2 in our incubators. Both are set at 5% CO2 but we get different measurements of 4% in one and 8% in the other. This makes us question the accuracy of both the Fyrite device and the incubators, and how will we get 10% CO2 for our cell line? Is the 8% close enough?
What do other labs use to measure/set their CO2? If anyone has some insight on CO2 in incubators, I would be grateful to hear from them.
Dear Jodi,
Like you we also had problems with Fyrite for accurately measuring CO2 in the cell culture incubator and later switched to a more reliable electronic portable CO2 meter (Thermo ).
I am sharing a photo for the same that I just had taken for you.
Hope that helps.
Best-
Fryte is still the gold standard for CO2 measurement. The only thing is that the fluid should be changed periodically.So if it is cloudy, you have to open the apparatus, wash it and rinse with distilled water and the fill back with fresh Fryte fluid to the right mark, then reassemble everything. To do the measurement connect one extremity of the hose to the incubator port, pump for the amount of time indicated by the manual, invert the Fryte apparatus (if I remember well 3 times) and then read. To bring back to the 0 point you have simply to depress the plunger for e few seconds to let out the excess gas. All the electronic probes are good for a while, then they start to became uncalibrated and give you complete false readings. So that is why the incubators have always a gas port to connect the Fryte. When you got your readings, you can calibrate your incubators increasing or decreasing the amount of CO2 and air from your tanks, using their regulator and periodically checking, until you get the right concentration
Jody,
If 10% CO2 is suggested for your cells, I wouldn’t recommend deviating from that as a minor tweak in environmental conditions and media pH could add stress to your cells or affect their metabolism. FYRITE devices typically give accurate readings of CO2 concentration and since yours is showing a signficant deviation, you should have your CO2 incubators calibrated ASAP.
A CO2 incubator is equipped with a CO2 sensor that dictates CO2 concentration. This is what needs to be calibrated for proper recovery. Certain types of sensors are more accurate than others.
Do you know what sensor your incubator has? If it's a single detector IR (infrared) sensor, calibration also depends upon pump maintenance. If it's a TC (thermal conductivity) sensor, several factors can affect its accuracy, including the humidity within your incubator. This is a drawback of TC sensors, as the readings may be up to 80% off for an hour after a door opening, e.g. your incubator may be reading 5% while its actually at 1%.
A dual detector IR CO2 sensor, available on certain newer incubators, does not require hands-on calibration work and recovers to the set CO2 concentration 2 minutes after a door opening. Thus you’ll get a more ‘real-time’ reading on your CO2 concentration with this technology. See this link: http://us.panasonic-healthcare.com/wp-content/uploads/DualIR2Sensor4-16-14.pdf
any sensor available which needed less warm up time and also cost is low??
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