FIG. 2.
Compartmented bioreactor for the culture of tissues at the interface between two fluid circulation systems. (A) The bioreactor comprises a tissue chamber, a peristaltic pump, and a reservoir container for the cell culture medium. From the reservoir container, the peristaltic pump delivers cell culture medium to the tissue chamber harboring up to three tissue constructs in separated compartments. (B) A sectional view of such a compartment depicts the path of the flow allowing defined shear stress conditions. On both sides of the tissue, independent fluid circulations ensure apical- and basolateral-specific culture conditions. Stainless steel electrodes support the electrical characterization of the cultured tissue. (C) The streamline and the resulting shear stress on the tissue surface at an inlet volume flow of 3.8 mL/min were predicted using computational modeling. Except from a ring of ∼50 μm at the tissue–bioreactor interface, shear stress values between 3.0 and 5.0 × 10−3 N/m2 were calculated. (D) By varying the inlet volume flow, the operating range of the bioreactor was characterized to allow the prediction of the average shear stress at a specific velocity of the inlet volume flow. According to the operating range, average shear stress at a volume flow of 3.8 mL was calculated to 3.34 × 10−3 N/m2. Color images available online at www.liebertpub.com/tec