Electron Microscopy Grid Holder for Cell Culture by bbarad

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

This is a general design for an electron microscopy grid holder for growing cells on grids in a dish with a 14mm mattek inset. There is a window under each grid slot to allow fluorescence or bright field monitoring of cell growth on grids, as well as slots cut to easily maneuver tweezers under the grids for easy handling.
I designed this to be a snap fit into the 14mm mattek window, but for different printer tolerances that may require printing v5 or v3. v2 holds the grids more snugly, but its difficult to get the grids in and out without bending, so unless you need the secure fit due to issues with grids floating, I'd avoid it.
Cost to print will vary, but is around $0.02 per part in my hands.
I recommend starting with a couple of v3 and v5 and seeing which works best for your workflow! We print in PLA and then disinfect w/ ethanol + the UV in the hood before use.
Designed from scratch, but inspired by Giovanna Grandinetti's grid holders at NIH, which are excellent for dishes without mattek inserts - https://www.ott.nih.gov/technology/e-243-2016.