Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2012 Sep;59(9):2568-75. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2012.2206077. Epub 2012 Jul 3.
Cultivating cells and tissues in bioreactors is a critical step in forming artificial tissues or organs prior to transplantation. Among various bioreactors, the perfusion bioreactor is known for its enhanced convection through the cell-scaffold constructs. Knowledge of mass transfer is essential for controlling the cell culture process; however, obtaining this information remains a challenging task. In this research, a novel mathematical model is developed to represent the nutrient transport and cell growth in a 3-D scaffold cultivated in a perfusion bioreactor. Numerical methods are employed to solve the equations involved, with a focus on identifying the effect of factors such as porosity, culturing time, and flow rate, which are controllable in the scaffold fabrication and culturing process, on cell cultures. To validate the new model, the results from the model simulations were compared to the experimental results extracted from the literature. With the validated model, further simulations were carried out to investigate the glucose and oxygen distribution and the cell growth within the cell-scaffold construct in a perfusion bioreactor, thus providing insight into the cell culture process.
在将人工组织或器官移植之前，在生物反应器中培养细胞和组织是一个关键步骤。在各种生物反应器中，灌注生物反应器以通过细胞-支架结构增强对流而闻名。质量传递知识对于控制细胞培养过程至关重要；然而，获取此信息仍然是一项具有挑战性的任务。在这项研究中，开发了一种新的数学模型来表示在灌注生物反应器中培养的 3-D 支架中的营养物质运输和细胞生长。使用数值方法来解决所涉及的方程，重点是确定在支架制造和培养过程中可控制的因素（如孔隙率、培养时间和流速）对细胞培养的影响。为了验证新模型，将模型模拟的结果与从文献中提取的实验结果进行了比较。使用经过验证的模型，进一步进行了模拟，以研究灌注生物反应器中细胞-支架结构内的葡萄糖和氧气分布以及细胞生长情况，从而深入了解细胞培养过程。
