I Currently Monitor CO2 And It Seems Sufficient - Why Should I Also Monitor pH?
To best explain the importance of monitoring pH in incubators that already monitor CO2, we compare pH monitoring to how the home thermostat affects temperature, and apply similar concepts to how pH fluctuates in cell culture.
How Your Thermostat Affects Your Home
You set your house thermostat with the intent to
- Keep your family feeling comfortable
- React to changing temperatures appropriately
- Manage energy usage and reduce costs
While the thermostat works with the furnace to set the temperature, it does not have direct control of air temperature. Without a thermometer to check the true temperature, you don’t know if the heater is working correctly to align the house to your temperature needs.
It is up to you to find the setting for your preferences, and even with programming, there will be changes to the temperature between rooms, on warm days and cold days, or during days and nights.
How CO2 Gas Affects Your Embryo Culture pH
Similarly, the lab sets the incubator CO2 flow rate and gas concentration levels based on media manufacturer suggestions, with the intent to
- Grow embryos in their best pH environment
- React to changing gas flow correctly
- Manage gas usage and reduce laboratory costs
When you use a bicarbonate-buffered culture media but don’t monitor pH, you have no idea if your incubator, CO2, and media are all working together correctly to achieve an ideal pH range. Factors such as temperature, weather, altitude, and media composition all change media pH in combination with CO2gas, and create the actual embryo culture environment. Even though you have set the CO2 gas and flow rate based on outside suggestions, there is not a measurable way to determine the true culture environment without taking a direct measurement.
Take Control Of Your Embryo Culture
The TrakStation® pH monitoring technology keeps an eye on your embryo culture conditions through media pH measurements every 30 minutes in up to 8 incubator chambers. With continuous pH monitoring, the lab can find out if current CO2 settings are sufficient to meet their pH needs, and can track equipment function, bacterial contamination risk, and long-term pH effects on their culture results.
Catch Equipment Malfunction Quickly
The lab no longer needs to assume its real-time pH based on CO2 concentration. The TrakStation collects pH data that is used to determine if equipment recovers from external changes such as high workflow rates, culture protocol alterations, or unexpected equipment failures. Since the TrakStation monitors pH directly, it notifies the lab of changing pH values, with an alert notification once pH is out of range.
The take-home message of this analogy is that a lab that relies on CO2 measurements without also measuring pH is trying to look into a black box-to truly understand your embryo culture and create the best environment for your cells, track your pH data.
Susan Olds
Embryology Product Specialist
Blood Cell Storage, Inc.
Tel: +1.425.654.8462 (D)
Email: susan.olds@safesens.com