A separation device for separating a solid separation target contained in a suspension obtained by suspension culture of adherent cells by using a fine scaffold material, and a separation method. The separation device has a separation chamber having a first chamber and a second chamber, and the first chamber and the second chamber are divided by a mesh structure for separation. The mesh structure for separation has mesh-holes with a predetermined size to suppress passage of the separation target, and a mesh structure for separation is configured in the separation chamber such that the liquid in the aforementioned suspension has a vertically upward directional component in the advancing direction of the liquid when the liquid passes through the mesh-holes.

The present invention provides a device for producing a large number of uniform spheroids by an easy method. The spheroid-producing device (1) at least includes a first surface (11), a second surface (12), and a plurality of wall surfaces (13). The second surface (12) faces the first surface (11). The respective wall surfaces (13) constitute a plurality of holes penetrating through the first surface and the second surface. In addition, an equivalent diameter of inscribed circles of openings in the first surface (11) is greater than an equivalent diameter of inscribed circles of openings in the second surface (12).

An apparatus for collecting or culturing cells or cell colonies includes: a common substrate formed from a flexible resilient polymeric material and having a plurality of wells formed therein; and a plurality of rigid cell carriers releasably connected to said common substrate, with said carriers arranged in the form of an array, and with each of the carriers resiliently received in one of the wells. A method of collecting or culturing cells or cell colonies with such an apparatus is carried out by depositing a liquid media carrying cells on the apparatus so that said cells settle on or adhere to said the carriers; and then (c) releasing at least one selected carrier having said cells thereon by gradual application of release energy to each carrier from the cavity in which it is received (e.g., by pushing with a probe).

A crossflow microfluidic particle concentrator including a main channel having an inlet and an outlet a crossflow outlet operably connectable with pressure means and/or flow control means, a plurality of crossflow channels fluidically connecting the crossflow outlet with the main channel a filtering element including a particle flow channel within the main channel, and a row of crossflow pillars disposed between the filtering element and the plurality of crossflow channels.

There is provided a connector, for introducing or extracting a material to or from at least one receptacle, comprising a housing extending between a distal end and a proximal end, the housing comprising, at least at one end, a pierceable seal; a hollow needle mounted, at least partially, within the housing between the distal end and the proximal end of the housing, a first end of the hollow needle being connected or connectable to a first corresponding receptacle, and a second end of the hollow needle facing the pierceable seal at an end of the housing; and an actuating mechanism acting on the housing or the hollow needle to enable the hollow needle to pierce the pierceable seal thereby forming a communication through the pierceable seal, such that material is able to transfer through the connector.

A method for directly bonding a metal to a transparent substrate includes providing a substrate; placing a metal foil directly on a face of the substrate; irradiating a portion of the metal foil with a laser beam so that metal corresponding to the portion melts and bonds directly to the substrate and forms a metal pad; and pumping a gas above the portion to prevent oxidation of the melted metal.

The present invention provides improved bioprocessing systems and methods for cell culture using the improved bioreactors, e.g., batch-fed or perfusion bioreactor cell culture systems for production of monoclonal or bi-specific antibodies, which are modified to include one or more membrane gas transfer modules in place of a sparger- or microsparger-based aeration systems to better regulate the levels of critical gases in a bioreactor cell culture, e.g., the dissolved levels of O2 and CO2, even at high cell densities, without subjecting the cells to bubble-burst associated cell death.

A bioprocessing system includes a first fluid assembly having a first fluid assembly line connected to a first port of a first bioreactor vessel though a first bioreactor line of a first bioreactor vessel, a second fluid assembly having a second fluid assembly line connected to a second port of the first bioreactor vessel through a second bioreactor line of the first bioreactor vessel, and an interconnect line providing for fluid communication between the first fluid assembly and the second fluid assembly, and for fluid communication between the second bioreactor line of the first bioreactor vessel and the first bioreactor line of the first bioreactor vessel.

The present invention relates to in vitro-methods of expanding a population of cells such as lymphocytes, comprising contacting a sample comprising a population of cells with a multimerization reagent. The multimerization reagent has reversibly immobilized thereon (bound thereto) a first agent that provides a primary activation signal to the cells and optionally, a second agent that provides a co-stimulatory signal. The invention also provides multimerization reagents, kits, arrangements and an apparatus for expanding cells.

A multiple-loop tangential flow filtration apparatus for concentrating fluids is described herein. The apparatus comprises a plurality of tube loops for receiving fluid therethrough, each tube loop comprising a respective filter, and a common feed pump for driving the fluid across each respective filter. The plurality of tube loops are coupled to the common pump via a common feed line.