Tubular bioreactor system for use in bone and cartilage tissue engineering

摘要

A bioreactor system includes a growth chamber having an inlet, an outlet, and defining a cavity, a media reservoir is in fluid communication with the inlet, and a pump configured to perfuse a media from the reservoir into the inlet and through the growth chamber. A plurality of discrete scaffold members is packed within the growth cavity. Spaces between adjacent scaffold members define pores. The media is movable around the scaffold members and through the pores via the pump.

主权项

1. A bioreactor system, comprising:
a growth chamber including an inlet and an outlet, said growth chamber defining a cavity; a media reservoir in fluid communication with said inlet; a pump configured to perfuse a media from said media reservoir into said inlet and through said growth chamber; and a plurality of discrete scaffold members disposed within said cavity, wherein said discrete scaffold members comprise a material selected from the group consisting of alginate, poly(caprolactone) (PCL), and poly(1-lactic acid) (PLLA), each of said scaffold members having a generally bead-shaped configuration and encapsulating a viable cell population, wherein outer surfaces of adjacent scaffold members are ionically cross-linked together so that said plurality of scaffold members collectively form an aggregated construct with spaces between said adjacent scaffold members defining pores throughout said aggregated construct, the media movable between and around the scaffold members through said pores and perfusable into said discrete scaffold members via said pump.