Cell Expansion Vessel With Membrane Perfusion for High-Density Culture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cell culture and expansion devices are bulky, do not support high density cell cultures, and require additional washing steps to reduce impurities, which complicates the process and increases device complexity.
Innovation Solution
A cell culture vessel with a gas permeable, liquid impermeable membrane and a dual-function drain port facilitates perfusion-based cell expansion, allowing for high density cell culture while reducing impurities without additional washing, using a low-profile, compact design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If typical cell culture and expansion devices are used, then cell culture and expansion can be performed, but the devices are bulky and do not produce high density cell culture
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a gas permeable membrane as the base of the culture vessel, allowing oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange while maintaining a compact, thin-profile structure. This eliminates the need for bulky sidewalls while supporting high cell densities through the membrane surface, directly resolving the contradiction between device volume and cell density capacity
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from traditional three-dimensional bulk culture vessels to a two-dimensional membrane-based culture system. Cells are cultured on the surface of a gas permeable membrane, utilizing surface area rather than volume as the primary culture capacity metric, thereby achieving high cell density in a compact footprint
2Quantity of substance
If typical cell culture devices are used, then cell culture can be performed, but additional washing steps are required to reduce impurities, increasing device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the culture and washing functions into a single integrated vessel. The gas permeable membrane structure allows spent medium to be removed from the culture surface while cells remain adhered to the membrane, enabling impurity reduction within the same device used for culture, thereby eliminating the need for separate washing devices
Solution Approach 2:
The gas permeable membrane enables self-gravitation-based medium removal where spent culture medium naturally drains away from the cell culture surface without requiring complex pumping or filtration systems. This self-service mechanism reduces impurities while maintaining simple device architecture
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The vessel supports high cell densities up to 35 MM/cm² with reduced impurities, enabling efficient perfusion-based impurity removal and eliminating the need for separate washing steps, thus enhancing the efficiency and compactness of cell culture processes.
Implementation Method 1
a gas permeable, liquid impermeable membrane positioned at a bottom of the cell culture vessel
Implementation Method 2
allowing the cells to settle on the gas permeable, liquid impermeable membrane by gravity
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes introducing a suspension including cells suspended in a cell culture medium through a feed port or a drain port into a cavity of a cell culture vessel, the suspension being in an amount sufficient to cover a gas permeable, liquid impermeable membrane positioned at a bottom of the cell culture vessel, the feed port being disposed through a surface of the cell culture vessel and configured to permit additional cell culture medium into the cavity, and the drain port being disposed through the surface of the cell culture vessel and configured to permit removal of the cells, cell culture medium, and used cell culture medium from the cavity, allowing the cells to settle on the gas permeable, liquid impermeable membrane by gravity, removing the used cell culture medium through the drain port and introducing the additional cell culture medium through the feed port such that a constant volume is maintained in the cell culture vessel until the cells expand to a desired cell density, wherein the removing and introducing are performed subsequent to allowing the cells to settle on the gas permeable, liquid impermeable membrane, resuspending the cells in the cell culture medium in the cell culture vessel, wherein the resuspending is performed after the desired cell density is attained, and removing the resuspended cells and the cell culture medium through the drain port.