Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Systems with cylindrical bags include the Disposable Shaken Bioreactor
System and the CURRENT Bioreactor. AmProtein utlilizes EVA plastic bags
in their CURRENT Bioreactor series. It was possible to demonstrate that the
oxygen supply (critical for yield optimization) could be improved by the
material of construction of the cultivation container in single-use bioreactors.
Bioreactor Selection
Factors to consider include
1. Goal of production, biomass or cell production
2. Bioinformatic controls
3. Scale
4. Biosafety
5. Familiarity
6. Cost
7. Support
More choices are available for animal cell bioreactors. For all kinds of cell
expansions and processes based on insect cells, wave-mixed bag bioreactors
should be the design of choice. This is especially important if the culture
medium used is serum free or protein free (i.e., it contains hydrolysates such
as peptones from plants and yeasts), but not chemically defined, and conse-
quently strong foam formation could potentially be expected during cultiva-
tion. Because of the mechanical action hindering foam formation (the foam
is continuously mixed into the medium by the wave action), the addition of
antifoaming agents becomes unnecessary.
Noninstrumented small-scale systems, or systems with limited instru-
mentation, such as disposable T-flasks, spinner flasks, roller flasks, and
their modifications, whose handling has been, to some extent, automated
over the past few years, are regarded as routine workhorses in cell cul-
ture laboratories.
The application of noninvasive optical sensor technology to transparent cul-
tivation containers for animal cells has resulted in highly automated or pre-
cisely monitored and/or controlled disposable microbioreactor systems. This
has paved the way for a change in early-stage process development from being
unmonitored to being well characterized and controlled, and has made an
important contribution to the accurate replication of larger-scale conditions.
In-seed inoculum productions, process developments and GMP manu-
facturing processes for mAb products and vaccines, and wave-mixed and
stirred-bag bioreactors are increasingly replacing fixed-wall cell culture
bioreactors. Furthermore, they are displacing the early disposable bioreac-
tors such as roller bottles, Cell Factories, and hollow fiber bioreactors. This
