CELL CULTURE CARRIER

Abstract

The invention relates to a cell culture carrier for cultivating biological cell material (07). The cell culture carrier comprises: a carrier plate (01); a membrane (02), which is supported by the carrier plate (01) and provides a colonization surface (06) for the cell material (07), the colonization surface (06) being permeable for a main flow (10) of a nutrient solution; and a holding cage (03), which is covered by the membrane (02) at an end and into which the cell material (07) can be introduced and through which the main flow (10) can flow. The carrier plate (01) provides a plurality of flow openings (08), which are positioned outside of the holding cage (03) in peripheral distribution and which allow a secondary flow (11) of the nutrient solution, the flow velocity of which secondary flow is greater than the flow velocity of the main flow (10) of the nutrient solution that flows through the holding cage (03) and the colonization surface (06). The invention further relates to a cell culture carrier assembly having a cell culture carrier of this type in a housing, which provides a flow region for a nutrient solution.

Claims

1. Cell culture carrier for cultivating biological cell material, comprising: a carrier plate; a membrane which is carried by the carrier plate and provides a colonization surface for the cell material, the colonization surface being permeable to a main flow of a nutrient solution; a receiving cage which is permeable to the nutrient solution and is covered on an end face by the membrane, into which the cell material can be introduced and through which the main flow can flow; characterized in that the carrier plate provides a plurality of flow openings which are distributed over the circumference outside the receiving cage and allow for a secondary flow of the nutrient solution, the flow rate of which is greater than the flow rate of the main flow of the nutrient solution flowing through the receiving cage and the colonization surface.

2. Cell culture carrier according to claim 1, the receiving cage consists of the same porous material as the membrane.

3. Cell culture carrier according to claim 2, wherein the receiving cage is shaped as a sleeve having open end faces, with one end face standing up on the membrane and the opposite end face remaining open for introducing the cell material and for feeding in the main flow of the nutrient solution.

4. Cell culture carrier according to claim 1, wherein the flow openings are designed as gaps between the membrane and the carrier plate.

5. Cell culture carrier according to claim 1, wherein the carrier plate has holding means for fastening within a bioreactor.

6. Cell culture carrier according to claim 1, wherein the membrane is enclosed in its edge region by the carrier plate and is fastened to the carrier plate by a plurality of holding webs which are distributed over the circumference.

7. Cell culture carrier according to claim 1, wherein the carrier plate is shaped as a circular disk, the dimensions of which are adapted to the wells provided in microtiter plates such that the cell culture carrier can be inserted into such a well.

8. Cell culture carrier according to claim 7, wherein the membrane and the wall of the receiving cage have a thickness of between 25 and 75 m, in that the receiving cage has an axial length of between 2.5 and 3.5 mm, in that the circular carrier plate (01) has a diameter of between 4 and 18 mm, and in that the flow openings together have a cross section of between 0.5 and 10 mm.sup.2.

9. Cell culture carrier according to claim 1, wherein it consists entirely of polycarbonate.

10. Cell culture carrier assembly for cultivating biological cell material, comprising: a housing which provides a flow region for a nutrient solution; a carrier plate which is positioned in the flow region of the housing; a membrane which is carried by the carrier plate and provides a colonization surface for the cell material, the colonization surface being permeable to a main flow of the nutrient solution; a receiving cage which is permeable to the nutrient solution, is arranged on the membrane and into which the cell material can be introduced; characterized in that there are a plurality of flow openings within the housing which are distributed over the circumference outside the receiving cage and allow for a secondary flow of the nutrient solution, the flow rate of which is greater than the flow rate of the main flow of the nutrient solution flowing through the receiving cage and the colonization surface.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Further advantages and details of the invention result from the following description of a preferred embodiment with reference to the drawings, in which:

[0021] FIG. 1 is a plan view of a cell culture carrier according to the invention;

[0022] FIG. 2 is a side view of the cell culture carrier according to FIG. 1;

[0023] FIG. 3 is a perspective sectional view of the cell culture carrier according to FIGS. 1 and 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0024] An exemplary embodiment of a cell culture carrier according to the invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. The cell culture carrier has a carrier plate 01, a porous membrane 02 and a receiving cage 03.

[0025] The carrier plate 01 is designed here as a circular disk made of polycarbonate having a diameter of approx. 15 mm and has, on its outer edge, holding means 04 by means of which the entire cell culture carrier can be fastened in a housing (not shown). The membrane 02 is also produced as a structure made of polycarbonate and is clamped at its edges in the carrier plate 01. A colonization surface 06 is provided in the center of the membrane 02, on which cell material 07 can be deposited. The membrane is porous at least in the region of the colonization surface 06, such that a nutrient solution can flow through the pores.

[0026] The cylindrical receiving cage 03 stands up on the membrane 02 in the region of the colonization surface 06 and is fastened to said membrane. In other configurations, the receiving cage can be inserted into the membrane or can be formed in one piece therewith. The receiving cage 03 can also be made of polycarbonate and has, for example, a diameter of 3 mm and a height of 5 mm. The side walls of the receiving cage 03 have a thickness of approx. 50 m and are also permeable, preferably porous, such that nutrient solution or its components can also penetrate there. The upper end face of the receiving cage 03 is open in order for it to be possible to insert and remove the cell material 07 at this point.

[0027] Clearances are provided in the corner regions of the membrane 02, such that a plurality of flow openings 08 remain in the carrier plate 01. The flow openings 08 are distributed over the circumference outside the receiving cage 03. Holding webs 09 for holding the membrane remain between the membrane 02 and the carrier plate 01. In different configurations, the flow openings can be formed by a multi-part circumferential annular gap.

[0028] FIG. 3 shows the flow profile generated by the described construction for the nutrient solution by means of flow arrows. A main flow 10 flows directly through the interior of the receiving cage 03, perfuses the cell material 07 in the process, and emerges from the membrane 02 again. The pore size in the colonization surface 06 and the pressure of the main flow 10 are selected such that the flow rate is not too high, and therefore the cell material 07 is not damaged by shear forces that occur. A secondary flow 11 passes the outside of the receiving cage 03 and flows out through the flow openings 08. Since the secondary flow does not act directly on the cell material 07, its flow rate can be selected to be significantly higher. Owing to the higher flow rate, a high gradient of the nutrients or the gases dissolved in the nutrient solution occurs between the inside of the receiving cage 03 and its outside, such that they are transported through the porous wall of the receiving cage 03. The flow rate of the secondary flow 11 can be determined, for example, by appropriately selecting the cross section provided by the flow openings 08. The cross section of the flow openings 08 is generally larger in total than the sum of the cross section of the pores in the region of the colonization surface 06.