Frequently Asked Questions

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Why are the membranes and volumes so small?

We have designed CytoVu® with imaging in mind. We developed a membrane that is optically transparent and perfect for cell culture research. We want researchers to be able to use this technology to easily analyze cell culture experiments on a microscope. In order to achieve this goal without requiring new equipment, we had to minimize the physical dimensions of the CytoVu® imaging slide so that it would fit on any standard or inverted microscope.

How many wells does CytoVu® have?

Each CytoVu® has 4 apical and 4 basal wells that are completely separate. This gives researchers the opportunity to vary 4 different experimental conditions per CytoVu® slide.

What is Basal Well Depth (BWD)?

The Basal Well Depth (BWD) is the distance from the top of the coverslip to the bottom of the membrane in the CytoVu® slide.
SiMPore is proud to offer 2 BWDs for every membrane configuration: 300 microns and 1000 microns.

A 300 micron BWD is useful for researchers that want to conduct high magnification experiments and do not necessarily need the largest volumes available.
A 1000 micron BWD is useful for researchers that are conducting low magnification experiments or want a larger volume in order to isolate cells or secreted molecules.

Can you tri-culture with CytoVu®?

In CytoVu®, there are 3 surfaces available on which you can seed your cells. You can seed on the apical or basal side of the membrane and on the coverslip. This gives the researcher flexibility in designing experiments. Although co-culture in CytoVu® is typically done on the apical and basal membrane surfaces, it can be done on any combination of the surfaces that are available with CytoVu®.

Is there background fluorescence?

CytoVu® does not have any background fluorescence nor does it absorb any dye molecules.

What is NanoBarrier™ Technology?

NanoBarrier™ Technology is a first-in-class barrier that we can selectively add to our CytoVu® products. This barrier is negligibly thick and has an extensive array of small, 50 nm diameter, pores. NanoBarrier™ allows all molecules to move between compartments but restricts cells entirely to the chamber that they were seeded in.

What are the advantages of highly regular micropores?

Our Micropores are extremely uniform in size, shape and distribution. We choose the exact dimensions and layout of the micropores using state of the art techniques from the semiconductor industry.

We wanted to make the micropores very regular in order to make it easy for researchers to determine whether an object is a micropore or not. Being able to do this allows reserachers to easily determine exact regions of interest or disinterest within their image and process those images accordingly.

How do I make the degradable NanoBarrier™ degrade?

The degradable NanoBarrier™ will begin to degrade following normal exposure to media.