A portable chamber for long-distance transport of surviving human brain slice preparations

Incubation chambers for surviving brain slice preparations are in most cases designed to be stationary. For investigations on human brain tissue resected for the treatment of brain tumor or epilepsy, portable incubation chambers are needed in addition to stationary ones to allow transport of the slices between laboratories and hospitals located far from each other. For such purposes, interface chambers have been in use. In view of the ongoing discussion of the merits of interface versus submerged baths, here we describe an alternative chamber as a lightweight, easy to assemble portable bath of the submersion type for transport of surviving brain slice preparations over considerable distances. The chamber has been used in a variety of investigations on human brain slices. These slice preparation showed bioelectric properties comparable to those reported in investigations by other laboratories using stationary incubation chambers in cases where portable ones were not needed.