Preparing high quality culture media

INTEGRA - a leading manufacturer of innovative instruments for microbiology for over 20 years - has launched the new MEDIACLAVE product range that sets unmatched standards for reliable and efficient preparation of culture media. High quality media for the cultivation of bacteria is at the core of numerous medical and microbiological laboratory applications.  As a consequence, many downstream tasks and results directly depend on ensuring a reliable and efficient process for preparing high quality media.

The new MEDIACLAVE product range enables laboratories to rapidly and reliably prepare 1-30 litres of high quality culture media, reducing labour costs and freeing staff to more productive tasks. Available in 10- and 30-litre configurations, the new MEDIACLAVE is quick to set-up - just insert the media cuvette, fill the water jacket and you are ready to prepare your culture media. An intuitive, multilingual user interface makes it easy for even untrained users to use the MEDIACLAVE productively.

INTEGRA Biosciences has introduced a host of features on the new MEDIACLAVE, enabling unmatched reliability in preparing consistent high quality media. Facility for pressure and temperature controlled deaeration allows outgassing of the sterilisation chamber and thus the MEDIACLAVE is able to achieve complete sterilisation.

Dispensing is one of the most critical steps prone to contamination during media preparation. New automatic in-process sterilisation of the dispense port completely eliminates these contamination risks.  A powerful flow heater system provides highly efficient heat transfer ensuring that high temperature time and hence thermal stress to the culture media is minimised.

Adjustable speed, bidirectional stirring guarantees complete mixing and prevents coagulation enabling production of absolutely homogeneous media. Rapid and gentle cooling using a highly efficient plate heat exchanger delivers culture media with the optimal bacterial fertility.

The new MEDIACLAVE is equipped with several independent monitoring systems for pressure and temperature, an automatic lid tightness check and an over-pressure safety valve to ensure the highest safety operating environment. Uniquely the new MEDIACLAVE is independently certified by TUV Product Services GmbH to be compliant to the UL 61010-1 and IEC 61010-1 international safety standards, thereby fulfilling even the most rigorous industry safety rules and regulations.

The MEDIACLAVE provides all the necessary tools to support the most stringent process documentation and validation needs. An integrated web server provides remote Ethernet connection and monitoring of the sterilisation process and instrument parameters.  The system also provides durable electronic storage of all process data according to FDA (21 CFR Part11) and EU (GMP Annex 11) protocols.

The media cuvette and the dispensing system of the new MEDIACLAVE were designed to avoid dead-volume, thereby allowing laboratories to maximise culture media yield.  Like its predecessor, the new MEDIACLAVE can be quickly and conveniently connected to the INTEGRA Biosciences MEDIAJET, allowing the automated dispensing of media into up to 540 Petri dishes at the touch of a button.

For more information on the new MEDIACLAVE culture media preparator, please visit our website or contact INTEGRA Biosciences.