Figure 4.

Schematic illustration of perfusion bioreactors that employ a mechanism of pneumatic stimulation. (A) Schematic cross-sectional view of a bioreactor cartridge design. Each device consists of an inner wall, inside which the 3D intestinal scaffold (orange) is mounted, and an outer wall, forming an air chamber surrounding. The inner wall is composed of highly stretchable Ecoflex (blue) and less deformable conventional PDMS (red), while the outer one is composed entirely of PDMS. Operation of a prototype bioreactor cartridge, (B) side view, and (C) top view. (D) Real-time measurements of average pressures generated from the pneumatic stimulation.