3D Hollow Fiber Bioreactors
3D Hollow Fiber Cell Cultivation
A Better Way to Grow Cells
3D hollow fiber changes the way you culture and grow cells, providing you with the simplest and cleanest cell harvest process as compared to traditional 2D cell culture methods such as T flasks and roller bottles.
In many ways, the hollow fiber bioreactor may be considered the original modern 3-dimensional cell culture system. It is now understood that hollow fiber bioreactors represent a more in-vivo-like method for culturing cells, and in 3 dimensions. There is no question that the conditions under which cells are cultured have a profound effect on their behavior, and cell culture conditions are fundamentally different in a hollow fiber bioreactor. Advantages are:
- Closed system for enhanced bio-safety
- Chemically defined CDM HD is optimized for 3-D, high-density hollow fiber culture
- Facilitates nutrient and waste exchange with our unique Duet Pump
- Cells generate their own in vivo like micro-environment
- Fits easily into a standard (CO2) incubator
- Provides different cartridge sizes to cater to various cell numbers
- Replaces 10’s to 100’s of flasks, roller bottles or cell stacks
- Delivers concentrated product and reduced harvest volumes
Components for a FiberCell Systems 3-D Hollow Fiber Bioreactor
- FiberCell Systems Duet Pump
- Cartridges in 3 sizes and 3 different types of fiber
- Reservoir Caps in 3 sizes for different bottle types and a Reservoir Cap for PK/PD Applications
- CDM-HD Serum Replacement
The hollow fiber (HF) bioreactor is a high-density continuous perfusion culture system, different from the non-porous plastic surfaces of e.g., flasks, microcarrier beads or roller bottles. A HF bioreactor consists of a cartridge containing thousands of semi-permeable hollow fibers in a parallel array within a tubular housing fitted with inlet and outlet ports. The fiber bundles are potted at each end so that any liquid entering the ends of the cartridge will necessarily flow through the interior of the fibers. Cells are generally seeded outside of the hollow fibers in what is referred to as the extra capillary space (ECS).
Culture media is circulated through the insides of the hollow fibers allowing nutrients, gases and waste products to diffuse both ways across the fiber walls. After passing through the cartridge, the culture medium is oxygenated and re-circulated to the cartridge. Hollow fiber bioreactors offer a unique environment for a more in-vivo-like cell cultivation and cell co-cultivation. They present a 3-D environment similar to the conditions found in the body, and support the continuous control of oxygenation levels, medium composition, and drug concentration. HF bioreactors are an effective means for the generation of a number of cellular products, from secreted proteins, antibodies, and exosomes to cells or conditioned medium.
There are three fundamental characteristics that differentiate hollow fiber cell culture from any other cell culture method:
- Cells are bound to a porous support, much as they are in-vivo
- The molecular weight cut off of the hollow fiber filter can be controlled, anywhere from 5 kd to 0.1 micron
- A very high surface area to volume ratio (>150 cm2 per mL)
A closer Look at FiberCell Systems Cartridges
How the Hollow Fiber works
