Types of laboratory hypoxia chambers

In scientific buying, "hypoxia chamber" usually means a sealed incubator, glove box or workstation that holds cell or animal work at a set oxygen level. That is a different product from an athletic altitude tent or a gym room. This guide explains the main lab types and the few public prices recorded in the project research notes on 14 November 2026. New full workstations are typically quote-based. This page is a purchasing overview, not a methods protocol and not medical advice.

The main types

1. Incubator chambers (inserts)

These are sealed boxes that sit inside an existing laboratory incubator. You place culture vessels in the chamber, close it and flush or fill it with a defined gas mix so the oxygen level inside the box is controlled. They are the lowest-cost way to get started if you already have a CO2 incubator and you do not need frequent open-air handling.

The public example in the research record is STEMCELL Technologies' Hypoxia Incubator Chamber, a simple sealed chamber for tissue culture. Embrient (formerly Billups-Rothenberg) also sells a modular incubator chamber in this class. These inserts are not full workstations: opening the chamber to work on the cells usually exposes them to room air unless you take other steps.

2. Hypoxia workstations

A workstation is an integrated enclosure with controlled oxygen (and usually CO2, temperature and humidity) and a way to work inside that atmosphere, such as glove ports and an airlock or interlock. The point is to seed, feed, assay and harvest without taking the cultures out into ambient air.

Baker Ruskinn (The Baker Company) is one manufacturer in this class. Its SCI-tive range is described on the company site as a larger physiological cell-culture workstation with a closed, user-defined oxygen environment. The InvivO2 line is a related Baker Ruskinn workstation family. Coy Laboratory Products, BioSpherix and Don Whitley Scientific (Whitley Hypoxystation) also make controlled-atmosphere workstations or chamber systems for cell work. Exact new list prices for these systems were not published on the pages checked. Expect a quote and a price well above a simple incubator insert.

3. Hypoxia glove boxes

A glove-box chamber is a sealed cabinet with gloves and, typically, a transfer chamber, plus control of oxygen and often CO2 and temperature. Plas-Labs' 856-Series is one example aimed at tissue-culture work, including tumor-cell and stem-cell research, with touch-screen control of oxygen, temperature and carbon dioxide. Some workstation designs overlap with this category.

New glove-box systems are usually quoted. The only public Plas-Labs figure in the research record is a used or refurbished price (below).

Verified price points (and their limits)

Use these only with the date and source. Used-equipment prices change when the listing sells.

• STEMCELL Technologies Hypoxia Incubator Chamber: recorded in the research notes on 14 November 2026 as from $962 USD on the official product page (https://www.stemcell.com/products/hypoxia-incubator-chamber.html). A later same-day fetch of that page did not show a stable public USD list price. The visible pricing area included "Request Pricing" and customer-specific pricing, with 875 CAD in the page data. Treat $962 USD as the figure recorded in the notes, not as a price that was independently reconfirmed later that day. Ask STEMCELL or a distributor for a current quote.

• Used or refurbished Baker SCI-tive workstation: about $12,500, seen on a dealer page. Source: https://www.americaninstrument.com/products/baker-sci-tive-hypoxia-workstation (research notes, 14 November 2026).

• Used Baker Ruskinn InvivO2 400: about $15,000, from a search result pointing at a used-equipment listing. Source: https://www.lablink.com/listings/7152505-used-baker-ruskinn-invivo2-400-hypoxia-workstation (research notes, 14 November 2026). Confirm the listing is still current before you rely on it.

• Used or refurbished Plas-Labs 856-HYPO glove box: about $15,400. Source: https://www.americaninstrument.com/products/plas-labs-hypoxia-glove-box-chamber-2739f-glove-box (research notes, 14 November 2026).

New Baker, Coy and BioSpherix list prices were not published on the manufacturer pages checked. New laboratory systems typically sit well above the simple incubator-insert figure and are sold through quotes, often via regional distributors (for example Scintica has distributed Baker Ruskinn's VelO2x in the US and Canada).

The $962 USD STEMCELL figure above is the notes figure recorded 14 November 2026. A later same-day fetch showed Request Pricing. It was not independently reconfirmed as a public USD list price.

How to choose a type

1. If you already have a standard incubator and need a low-cost, occasional hypoxic environment, start by asking about an incubator insert and what gas mixes and sensors it needs.
2. If staff will handle cultures often and you need the cells to stay at the setpoint during work, look at a workstation or glove box with an interlock or transfer chamber.
3. Write down the oxygen range, CO2, temperature, humidity, capacity (plates, flasks or animals), how samples move in and out, data logging and any clean-air or containment options you need. Send the same brief to more than one vendor.
4. Budget for gas supply, installation, training, service and, for used systems, a refurbishment and calibration check.
5. Do not mix this purchase with athletic tents or industrial hypobaric test chambers. Those are different categories on this site.

Brands to put on a shortlist

Manufacturers recorded in the research and checked as live sites on 14 November 2026: STEMCELL Technologies, The Baker Company (Baker Ruskinn), Coy Laboratory Products, BioSpherix, Plas-Labs, Don Whitley Scientific and Embrient. Scintica is a distributor, not a manufacturer. Other regional distributors may be the right first contact in your country.

How this site makes money

hypoxiachambers.com is an independent directory and quote-request site. It is free for buyers to use. Manufacturers and installers can have a free listing. Some vendors may pay a monthly featured-listing fee. Those placements are labeled Featured or Sponsored. For some larger projects the site may later earn a negotiated referral fee or a fee for introducing a qualified lead, if a vendor agrees to that. Editorial order of unpaid listings is not for sale and the site does not sell "best of" rankings. Until those agreements exist, treat a listing as unpaid unless it is labeled.

The site is not a manufacturer and does not set vendor prices. Figures on this page come from public product pages or from research recorded on 14 November 2026, with the source named beside each price.

Request quotes

If your lab is choosing an incubator insert, a workstation or a glove-box hypoxia chamber, use the quote request form and choose the lab option. Include the chamber type you think you need, the oxygen range, the vessel capacity, your country and whether you are asking about new or used equipment. We will use that to show a relevant shortlist. Until vendors or distributors have agreed terms, the site stores the inquiry rather than selling it as a lead. Referral or lead fees on larger lab projects, if they are ever agreed, will be negotiated and disclosed.