CO₂ Incubators Features

Thermo Scientific CO₂ incubators are designed to provide healthy cultures that best mimic in vivo responses, driving your downstream success. To produce reliable and consistent results, our portfolio is based on decades of proven technologies and continually advancing features to support the demands of your specific applications.

Contamination is a risk for anyone working with cultured cells, so our CO₂ incubators are designed and engineered to prioritize risk mitigation. Both passive and active contamination control technologies are available to help maintain cell health while reducing maintenance and cleaning tasks. 

Interior surface materials

Preventing unwanted microbiological growth and enabling easy cleaning begins with the incubator chamber. Choose from polished 304 stainless steel or 100% copper interiors that give you peace of mind and allow you to confidently pursue your work.  

Choose from a selection of high temperature elimination technologies available with your CO₂ incubator.  During the automated cycle, heat is continuously circulated throughout the incubator chamber, meeting international pharmacopeia requirements to eliminate any colder areas where microorganisms could survive. This process simplifies cleaning without the need for autoclaving and reduces the need to use hazardous chemicals which could have negative effects on cultured cells and laboratory personnel. Elimination of biological contaminants including fungi, spores, mycoplasma, and other bacteria is achieved, while avoiding the physical constraints of UV germicidal lamps and ongoing costs, including handling and storage of potentially toxic germicides. All of our CO₂ incubator systems are independently tested using at least 1 million approved biological indicator organisms in accordance with U.S. and EU pharmacopeia standards.

Airborne particulates are a primary source of contamination in most lab settings. Our CO₂ incubators provide advanced HEPA filtration technology that protects your cultures with ISO Class 5 cleanroom-like air quality conditions in only five minutes after a 30-second door opening.  In-chamber HEPA filtration combined with active air circulation captures particles of any size that represent a risk to your work.

Precise and reliable measurement of environmental factors inside the incubator is critical to mimicking in vivo conditions that ensure accurate cell responses in downstream assays.  Our incubators utilize sensors positioned directly in the incubation chamber for precise measurement of the conditions experienced by your cells. This design requires more robust sensor construction but delivers immediate and accurate corrections to any variations as they occur. Choose from robust thermal conductivity (TC) or advanced infrared (IR) CO₂ sensor technologies, depending on your application requirements.

Thermo Scientific variable oxygen control (“tri-gas”) incubators are uniquely designed to optimize growth of mammalian cells in an environment that closely mimics in vivo conditions. Inside the body, oxygen concentrations range from 1% to 14%, rather than the 20–21% found in the atmosphere. In many cases, cells cultured in low oxygen (hypoxia) grow faster, live longer, and show lower stress.  Scientists use our incubators with variable oxygen control to increase the biological relevance of their cultures, enhance growth performance, reduce differentiation and stress responses, and more closely simulate tumor microenvironments. 

A selection of humidity reservoir designs is available to enhance performance and workflows according to your requirements. Choose from the simplicity of a traditional, removable water pan or unique integrated reservoirs that are directly heated for high relative humidity (rH) levels and faster recovery. An external reservoir simplifies maintenance and allows refill without disrupting culturing, with full active rH parameter control, ideal for applications requiring precise monitoring of humidity levels.

We offer a choice of either direct heat or water jacketed CO₂ incubators, each delivering unique advantages. Direct heat technology is convenient, lightweight and available with high temperature sterilization. Water jacketed incubators deliver excellent temperature stability and protection in the event of unexpected power outages.

* Based on internal standards for 30-second door opening, recovery calculated to 98% of starting value for temperature and CO2 , and 95% of starting value of humidity.

While Thermo Scientific CO₂ incubators are loaded with performance-oriented features and advanced technology, they remain surprisingly easy to use.  All our incubators offer simple, intuitive control. Choose from a simple alphanumeric control center or an advanced touchscreen display.

Responding to the rising demand for proven cleanroom compatibility, we offer the first particle control system designed for a cleanroom CO₂ incubator. This innovative technology controls and captures particulates that, in a different incubator, could be released into the cleanroom environment. In our system, air throughout the casing is directed through a HEPA filter in the rear to assure no disruption to the surrounding environment. This technology is third party validated and certified for ISO Class 5 and GMP Grade A/B environments.