Cell Culture Tool

Abstract

A cell culture tool includes a cell culture tray and a dish or insert tray that rests on the cell culture tray. The cell culture tray includes a substantially flat surface with more than one well, each well configured to contain a liquid volume and an outer wall surrounding the tray to define a reservoir configured to fluidly interconnect the volume of the more than one well. The insert dish includes a permeable membrane and the dish is configured to rest on the cell culture tray to position the membrane within the reservoir.

1 . A cell culture tool, comprising: 
 a cell culture tray having 
 a substantially flat surface with more than one well, each well configured to contain a liquid volume, and  
 an outer wall surrounding the tray to define a reservoir configured to fluidly interconnect the volume of the more than one well; and  
   an insert dish having a permeable membrane, the dish configured to rest on the cell culture tray thereby positioning the membrane within the reservoir.    
     
     
         2 . The cell culture tool of  claim 1 , wherein the more than one well comprises six wells.  
     
     
         3 . The cell culture tool of  claim 1 , wherein each of the more than one well comprises a cylindrical bore in the surface of the flat tray.  
     
     
         4 . The cell culture tool of  claim 1 , wherein each of the more than one well comprises a spherical depression in the surface of the flat tray.  
     
     
         5 . The cell culture tool of  claim 1 , wherein each of the more than one well comprises a cylindrical depression in the surface of the flat tray.  
     
     
         6 . The cell culture tool of  claim 1 , wherein each of the more than one well comprises a side wall perpendicular to the surface of the tray and a bottom wall parallel to the surface of the flat tray, the sidewall having a height that is less than the height of the outer wall.  
     
     
         7 . The cell culture tool of  claim 1 , wherein each of the more than one well comprises a dividing wall extending from the flat tray and a surrounding wall extending from a perimeter of the tray, the surrounding wall having a height above the height of each dividing wall.  
     
     
         8 . The cell culture tool of  claim 1 , wherein the dish comprises: 
 a circular side wall;    a flange extending from the top of the side wall; and    a bottom wall attached to the bottom of the side wall, the bottom wall having the permeable membrane.    
     
     
         9 . A cell culture tool to simultaneously conduct multiple experiments, comprising: 
 a tray with a flat plate having more than one set of wells, each set of wells segregated in a compartment with an open top configured to contain a liquid volume to fluidly interconnect the volume with the set of wells; and    a tray insert having more than one chamber each having a permeable membrane, the tray insert configured to rest on the tray thereby positioning each chamber in each compartment.    
     
     
         10 . The cell culture tool of  claim 9 , wherein: 
 the tray comprises an outer wall surrounding the perimeter of the plate; and    an outer lip surrounding the more than one chamber, the outer lip configured to rest on the outer wall of the tray.    
     
     
         11 . A method of interacting a substance with more than one type of cell material in a cell culture tool having a tray with a flat plate with a set of wells, the set of wells in a compartment with an open top configured to contain a liquid volume that exceeds the volume of the set of wells and a tray insert having a chamber with a permeable membrane, the tray insert configured to rest on the tray thereby positioning the chamber in the compartment, the method comprising: 
 culturing different cell types in the set of wells;    adding a fluid medium that exceeds the volume of the set of wells thereby fluidly interconnecting the set of wells in the compartment; and    adding the substance to the chamber of the tray insert; and    resting the tray insert on the tray with the chamber in the compartment.    
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising: 
 adding one or more culture medium to the set of wells, the culture medium selected according to the different cell types.    
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein 
 the set of wells comprises a first well, a second well and a third well, and    culturing the different cell types comprises culturing a first cell type in the first well, a second cell type in the second well and a third cell type in the third well.    
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising: 
 adding a first culture medium to the first well, a second culture medium to the second well and a third culture medium to the third well.