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Assembled chambers are 101.6mm (4") long.

WPI’s classical Ussing Chambers are well established perfusion chambers that are easy to operate, easy to control temperature, and easy to clean after use. The Ussing Chambers are machined from solid acrylic with eight entry ports for fluid lines, electrodes, or agar bridges. For easy, leak-free attachment of tubing and electrodes, all eight ports are luer type. The four ports for voltage and current electrodes are recessed to prevent formation of air bubbles in the chamber. The fluid compartments in each side of the chamber are separated by the epithelial membrane being studied. Sharp stainless steel pins on oneside of the chamber hold the membrane in position and mate with holes in the opposite chamber interface.

Specific Details for CMH4

In the CHM4, tissue is held by an O-ring instead of pins.

Specific Details for CMH5

The CHM5 chamber adapts the Costar Snapwell, a cell culture insert for mono­layer cell culture, into WPI’s “classical” epithelial voltage clamp system. Until now, classical Ussing Chambers have not been widely used for mono­layer cell culture inserts because most inserts have a very deep profile, limiting good fluid perfusion at the surface of the membrane - and limiting voltage electrodes from measuring the potential close to the surface of the membrane.

CHM5 solves these problems:

• Perfusion fluid is introduced into the chamber at an angle so that it will flow directly to the surface of the membrane.
• The voltage electrode is also inserted into the chamber at an angle so as to reduce the distance between the surface of the membrane and the electrode.

Specific Details for CMH6

This small chamber with rectangular openings was designed for tubular tissue from small animals such as the mouse intestinal tract membrane. The rectangular opening more closely matches the shape of the tissue than would a circular opening, significantly increasing the membrane area available for testing. The larger membrane area increases the transport rate of low permeability chemicals; it also reduces the electrical resistance of the system for easier current clamping.

Specific Details for CMH7

This small chamber with rectangular openings was designed for rat intestinal tract membrane. The rectangular opening more closely matches the shape of the tissue than would a circular opening, significantly increasing the membrane area available for testing. The larger membrane area increases the transport rate of low permeability chemicals; it also reduces the electrical resistance of the system for easier current clamping.