Peripheral System Components

     Equipment which may be needed to carry out cannulated vessel and other experiments are contingent upon the nature of the planned studies and protocols, budget constraints and apparatus that may be already available in the investigator's laboratory. Living Systems offers many of these components as a convenience to those first setting up a laboratory for vascular studies, as well as LSI instrument parts or supplies which may require replacement. Some of these are listed below.

Microscopes - For many years we have supplied the Nikon TS100-F inverted microscope. It has excellent optical clarity, a TV camera port, and is moderately priced.  We also offer the Nikon SMZ/645 or SMZ/660 dissection microscope that is useful for tissue dissection and the tying of vessels to the cannulas.

TV Camera and TV Monitor - We currently supply monochrome and color CCD cameras and monitors for domestic and foreign use. These cameras have fine image resolution and can tolerate a wide range of image illumination.

Cannulas - LSI makes borosilicate glass cannulas for all vessel chambers. They have a cleanly beveled tip, and are sold in packs of 12. Tip size may be specified to best match the vessel lumen size. Commonly supplied sizes in µm are: 40 - 60, 80 - 100, 100 - 120, 120 - 150, and 150 - 200. Other size ranges are available by request.

Flow-thru Pressure Transducers - These solid-state units have Luer fittings and readily connect to the perfusion line. The electrical signal 4-foot cable terminates in a telephone connector suitable for connection to the Pressure Servo Control unit (e.g., PS/200), the Perfusion Pressure Monitor (PM/4), or the Extravascular Pressure Control Unit (EV-1).

Tube Sets - These are used to change the volume flow range of the peristaltic pumps in the Pressure Servo Control unit (PS/200) and the Flow Control pump (FC). Except for the largest tube set size they can be supplied as single or are dual tubes; the duals can be paralleled for greater flow, or used to supply different fluids in a Dual Vessel Chamber setup. The sets available and approximate maximum flow rates follow:

Vessel Dissection Dishes are Petri dishes coated on the bottom with a layer of Sylgard so that the tissue can be pinned out for dissection. We offer dishes with 2 depths; a regular one for normal dissection of blood vessels, and a deeper dish for dissection of large organs requiring a larger volume of buffer.

Miniature Glass Dispersion tube – This fritted fiber gassing tube takes up little volume when gassed and inserted in a bath for control of buffer pH. See oxygenator section of this website.

Glass Cannula Tubing is supplied for those wishing to draw and grind their own cannulas.

Pen Recorders are a useful adjunct to any experiment where hard copy on paper is desired. The Kipp & Zonen, BD 300 4-channel recorder has a sufficient number of channels to collect the key data; e.g. proximal and distal pressures, vessel diameter, and flow. We supply this state-of-the-art instrument with pen offset compensation, and with options for data logging to a built-in floppy disk, and a print head which imprints the variables' sensitivities and other chart recording parameters.

PC Data Acquisition Systems store all the data voltage signals and essentially transforms your computer into a recorder. We supply two models of the DATAQ system, which can accept as many as 32 signal variables. The instrument connects to the computer's USB port. Included software provides a host of extremely useful calibration and analysis functions.

Flow Resistors are made using small bore Tygon tubing having luer fittings at each end.  These are supplied with a calibration of the flow resistance in the range of approximately 0.05-1.00 mmHg/µl/min (50-1000 Halps; 1 Halp = 10^-3 mmHg/µl/min). For example, a flow resistor of 0.10 mmHg/µl/min (100 Halps) will cause a pressure difference across the resistor of 5 mmHg at a flow rate of 50 µl/min.

Pressure Calibrator - This desk model mercury manometer permits accurate calibration of the pressure transducers used in our Pressure Servo Control and Pressure Monitor instruments.  It is supplied complete with tubing and inflation bulb.

NEW Hand Support Platform Model HSP-1
				ACCESSORY FRAME HOLDING PETRI DISSECTION DISH
				ACCESSORY FRAME FOR VARIOUS CHAMBERS
CHAMBER HELD BY PLATFORM DURING TYING OF VESSEL
Ø Facilitates Vessel Dissection & Tying Vessels on Chamber Cannulas Ø Reduces hand strain Ø Avoids sliding of dish or chamber Ø Interchangeable holding frames for Petri dishes & Chambers Ø Mirror in base to reflect incident light for better visualization Ø Weighted base with non-slip feet Ø Dimensions: 42 x 17 cm Ø Weight: 4 kg

	Flow-thru miniature         combination pH electrode
·        Continuous pH monitoring
·        Place in line with flow path. For example, perfusate or superfusate connections of cannulated vessel chambers
·        Luer-lok male fittings
·        Compatible with all pH meters
·        For solution temperature measurement use in series with LSI in-line “Tee-mounted” thermistor (Model THS/Tee)
		Vermont quarter (23 mm dia.) shown for size

Other components that LSI offers include: pH instruments, temperature probes and meters, superfusion pumps, heat exchangers, stage micrometers, and micropipette pullers and grinders.