The BBD 6220 CO2 Incubator from Kendro has been designed to meet the stringent requirements of today’s cell and tissue culture experiments. The stability of the interior temperature is controlled by a microprocessor that ensures stable culture conditions. The CO2 concentration is regulated independently from the current humidity thanks to a CO2 sensor equipped with an internal calibration mechanism. To ensure a clean environment, the incubator can be easily disinfected at 180
oC without the need for removing any internal parts or sensors. In addition, the steam that is used to regulate humidity is decontaminated before it enters the incubation chamber, which provides further defense against contamination with microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria. The chamber is protected from collecting condensation through the even distribution of heat along the chamber walls. Additionally, the water reservoir is placed outside the heated chamber further preventing condensation. The total volume of the culture chamber is 220L, which is a generous amount of space.
For a couple of years Kendro incubators have been permanent elements of our cell culture laboratory equipment. There are a number of reasons for this. Their incubators allow for a great deal of control of the interior atmosphere - we have never complained about the reproducibility of our cell culture experiments. Another very important feature is the fast and efficient disinfection procedure for the culture interior. This has actually prevented contamination problems that we had experienced before while using other types of incubators. Also cleaning the chamber is easy due to the edge-free design of the walls. In our lab each incubator is shared by several users, so the ability to divide the chamber into six compartments (using an additional six-door glass separator) is a very convenient element. It also reduces the unnecessary evacuation of the CO2 due to frequent main door openings. There are also a number of small but helpful features, like a water level indicator located at the front of the instrument.
The one feature that I would like to see improved is the length of the disinfection procedure. Currently this process takes 12 hours, of which only 3 hours of that time is necessary for the disinfection itself. Similarly, the time this incubator takes to reach 37oC is 4.5 hours from the time the instrument is switched (after cleaning, for example) - this is a bit too long in my opinion.
In summary, my long-term experience with the BBD 6220 incubator allows me to recommend it as a standard piece of equipment for any cell culture lab. Its technical reliability and practical design makes this device a clear favorite among cell culture equipment.
Michal Janitz, M.D.
Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics
Berlin, Germany