key points at a glance

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  • • 4-bath benchtop setup housing key components "under one roof"
• • 20ml / 10ml / 5ml baths are interchangeable
• • automated bath empty, fill, renewal
• • electric heating means faster temperature control and more accessible baths (compared to air-heated systems)
• • physiological liquid heated in-line
• • control and display of bath temperature
• • automated tissue tensioning (with manual override)
• • very sensitive, yet resistant, isometric transducer
• • digital display of transducer reading
• • wide choice of tissue holder shapes and sizes
• • corrosion-resistant
• • can be adapted for microvessel study
• • electrical stimulation possible (add-on option)
• • analog output for direct connection to any existing software
• • advanced control and data recording/analysis when linked to emka's iox2

what is emkaBATH4?

emkaBATH4 is an all-in-one setup for isolated tissue studies providing heated, oxygenated and nutrient-rich perfusate to the tissues to ensure their viability while data are acquired.

In effect, signal amplifiers, peristaltic 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 is designed for use with our it50 or it1 isometic 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 iox, 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...) Where 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 1 mm and up to 3.5 mm long), by using microvessel baths in place of the standard tubular baths.

Each 5 mL microvessel bath incorporates its own isometric transducer 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.

Even more possibilities become available if you have an appropriate version of iox 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)

emkaBATH4 also has several useful features to make researchers' work easier:

• an overflow bath renew process (suction from above), which ensures that tissue is never exposed to air so there is no risk of dry-out! (standard renew, i.e. empty then fill, always possible)
• a simple calibration procedure: select the measuring range and the internal software does the rest!
• perfusate is heated to the required temperature as it travels to the bath: ie the external supply does not have to be temperature-controlled!

emkaBATH4, the all-in-one tissue bath setup!