Coverslip holder (round) for 6-well microplates

thingiverse

Seeding cells on coverslips then placing them inside a microplate for long-term culturing is relatively common in cell biology. However, if you then want to live-image the coverslips, or perform any kind of experiment where the coverslips need to be 'locked' in place with no risk of movement or floating away, this can be problematic. These coverslip holders are one way that my laboratory avoids this problem. They have a central opening with a lip that allows the coverslip to sit flat and snug. If you need to <i>really</i> hold the coverslip in place you can easily apply a little cyanoacrylate or silicone vacuum grease to the lip beforehand. The holder is then placed within a 6-well plate (Greiner cat # 657160) or 35 mm Petri Dish (BD Falcon). Channels on either side of the holder allow addition and aspiration of media without fear of getting too close to the cells. There are files designed for 12, 18 and 22 mm round coverslips. Within each coverslip size, there are three different tolerances; tight and loose have openings ±200 µm different from the medium. Print a few and see what works best for your printer and coverslip combination! *If you use this design in a scientific manuscript, I only ask that you please state the design was received from Dr. Adrian West, cite this webpage, and send me a link to your published paper!* <b>NOTE: I am putting print instructions here, because Thingiverse does not properly parse paragraphs in the print settings section below.</b> This is a very easy print if your printer is well-dialled-in. Just make sure your build surface is very level if you are printing large batches, and make sure you use a quality adhesion aid to prevent warping around the hole/lip. I would strongly recommend no brim, which would affect how the holder fits into plates and dishes. With the Ultimaker S3 we use a 0.25 mm AA print core and 0.1 mm layer height to ensure utmost surface quality, but print time is approximately one hour per holder. Wider nozzles and taller layer heights will allow you to print much faster. Material choice depends on how long you need to keep the coverslip. For short term experiments, BASF Ultrafuse PET that has been thoroughly cleaned with 70% EtOH is ideal. For longer term culturing where contamination might be an issue, we use Ultimaker Polycarbonate that has been thoroughly rinsed, boiled, soaked in 70% EtOH, then UV-exposed.