CERO_Operators Guide_Version 2018-12_01
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3. PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
This chapter provides a brief overview of the CERO system. See Chapter 4 for complete
installation instructions and Chapter 5 for complete usage instructions.
3.1 Culturing Cells in the CERO
The CERO is a benchtop incubator and bioreactor hybrid supporting aggregate and the cell
culture on the Microcarrier substrates. The primary functions of the CERO are:
- maintenance of the culture environment (e.g. CO
2
, temperature)
- control of the cell suspension via rotation of the CEROtube
- monitoring the pH of the cell culture medium
Cell culture in the CERO generally consists of three phases:
Inoculation
,
Culture
and
Harvesting
(figure 1).
Figure 1: Cu lturing Cells in the CERO – us ing th e ex ample of a microcarier culture
The initial inoculation phase supports the aggregation of the cells or the loading of cells on the
microcarrier substrate. The culture phase refers to the expansion of the culture. The harvesting
phase (optional) corresponds to the dissolution of the cells.
3.1.1 Parameters, Protocol and Experiment
Parameters are low level commands which value can be set, in a defined range, by the user via
the user interface.
A protocol consists of a set of commands together with controllable parameters and defines all
necessary actions. There exist 3 types of protocols: inoculation, culture and harvesting, which
are described below.
An experiment consists of the succession of protocols, usually an Inoculation Protocol followed
by a Culture Protocol and a Harvesting Protocol. 4 different experiments, one for each tube,
can be run independently.
