Portable, low-cost hypoxia chamber for simulating hypoxic environments: Development, characterization and applications

Hypoxia is a pathological condition known to occur in several diseases including stroke and certain cancers. The development and testing of a portable hypoxia chamber remains a challenge. Hypoxia simulating devices typically consist of a sealed chamber that is placed inside the existing laboratory incubator at 37°C. Existing devices for simulating hypoxic environments are cost and space inefficient. This study describes the development of a portable, cost-efficient hypoxia chamber with a small footprint and low running cost. Performance of the chamber was validated through cell and microbial culture as well as gene and protein expression experiments. The hypoxia dependent protein expression changes were established using HIF-1α and VEGF as hypoxia marker. Our hypoxia chamber is able to maintain hypoxic environment for up to 12 hr.