The Kitasato flask is a conical, thick-walled glass flask with a short glass tube and hose barb projecting from its neck, allowing it to be connected to a flexible suction hose and vacuum source to filter liquids free of waste. It works along with a water trap, funnel with filter paper, and drilled rubber bung, and is also known as a Büchner flask, named after chemist Erns Büchner who developed this type of vacuum filtration flask.