Fig. 2.

Integrated bioprocess for 3D stem cell culture and a perfusion RWV bioreactor (BSEL) system. (A) Approximately five-hundreds of stem cell-laden alginate beads were produced within 3 min by an automated hydrogel encapsulator (each bead contained about 20,000 cells). Large scale production of stem cell-based 3D-tissue constructs was achieved by using a novel perfusion RWV bioreactor system. (B) Two sets of the perfusion RWV system were mounted on a single base unit, which rotated together by a servo motor (a perfusion path driven by a peristaltic pump is indicated by the red arrows: fresh medium bottle → oxygenator → culture vessel → wasting medium bottle). A gas-permeable membrane covered the culture vessel to have a direct gas-exchange with the surrounding air. C The bioreactor system running in a CO₂ incubator. Tissue constructs in the culture vessel were in a free-fall state while the culture vessel rotated