emkaBATH4 modular tissue bath system
2-in-1 tissue bath system
emkaBATH4 is a 2-in-1 tissue bath system for studying the contractile properties of:
- tissue strips up to 40 mm long or vessels of internal diameter of 500μm - 10 mm
- microvessels of diameter 100µm to 3 mm and up to 3.5 mm long
It provides heated, oxygenated and nutrient-rich perfusate to the tissues to ensure their viability while data are acquired.
Signal amplifiers, filling and emptying pumps, motors, heating elements, etc, are hidden inside the mainframe (parts requiring periodic maintenance are easily accessible however).
The control panel on the emkaBATH4 therefore provides a single point of interaction with the entire system.
Before starting experiments, you simply need to connect the mainframe to a power unit, carbogen bottle, perfusate supply and waste bottle.
emkaBATH4 complete setup
Key points at a glance
Integrated & compact: 4-bath benchtop setup housing key components "under one roof"
Modular design :
- interchangeable baths (20ml / 10ml / 5ml)
- switch from tubular baths to microvessel baths in a few minutes
- wide choice of tissue holder shapes and sizes
- electrical stimulation possible
- completely automated
- easy mounting and removal for cleaning
- external connections and peripheral devices reduced to a minimum
- digital display of transducer reading
Seamless hardware/software integration:
- all bath operations are accessible from within the iox2 acquisition software
- filling/emptying and/or tissue tension operations are all set in the acquisition protocol (no need of a separate tissue bath control application)
- quality control: tissue tension, and temperature data recorded
Smart features:
- electric heating: faster temperature control & more accessible baths compared to air-heated systems
- physiological liquid heated in-line to the required temperature : the external supply does not have to be temperature-controlled and kept warm long hours before using !
- no risk of dry-out as tissue is never exposed to air, with overflow bath renew process (suction from above) - standard renew, i.e. empty then fill, always possible
- very sensitive, yet resistant isometric transducers
- corrosion-resistant
Open system: analog output for direct connection to any acquisition software
What is emkaBATH4?
emkaBATH4 is designed for use with our it50 or it1 isometic transducers (can be adapted to be used with isotonic transducers).
A calibrated analog signal from each transducer is available on the BNC connectors, permitting use of any acquisition software.
Digital signals are available on the USB connector and can be acquired by a PC running iox2, or data acquisition and analysis software.
Different sizes of baths are available (5mL, 10mL, 20mL) and they are interchangeable.
A wide range of tissue fixation hooks makes emkaBATH4 suitable for study of different types of contractile tissue (aortic ring, trachea, papillary muscle...).
When necessary, we can supply stimulating electrodes and stimulators.
Microvessel study
The emkaBATH4 mainframe can easily be adapted for the study of up to 4 microvessels (vessels of diameter 100 µm to 3 mm and up to 3.5 mm long),
by using microvessel baths in place of the standard tubular baths.
Switch from tubular baths to microvessel baths only takes a few minutes.
Each 5 mL microvessel bath incorporates its own isometric transducer (itMYO) measuring forces up to 30 g.
What can it do?
All operations are automated and can be launched from the mainframe control panel: set tissue tension, set bath temperature, fill/empty/wash/renew bath. Real-time measurements (tension and temperature) are also displayed on the control panel.
view of the emkaBATH4 front panel - zoom on bath 4 and temperature control
view of the emkaBATH4 rear panel - analog output for direct connection to any acquisition software
Even more possibilities become available if you have an appropriate version of iox2 acquisition software:
- ability to control up to 4 emkaBATH4 (16 baths) from a single interface
- real-time analysis using specially designed modules
- target-driven tissue tensioning (set target tension and time-out)
- protocols for maximum automation (bath operations, tissue tensioning, stimulator control)
