Flexible bag for cultivation of cells

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9550969-B2
Application number	US-201214005916-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 16, 2012
Priority date	Mar 18, 2011
Publication date	Jan 24, 2017
Grant date	Jan 24, 2017

Abstract

An inflatable bioreactor bag for cell cultivation, which comprising a top and a bottom sheet of flexible material, joined together to form two end edges and two side edges, wherein one baffle or a plurality of baffles extend from the bottom sheet in a region where the shortest distance to any one of the two end edges is higher than about one fourth of the shortest distance between the two end edges.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An inflatable bioreactor bag for cell cultivation comprising:
a top sheet and a bottom sheet, each being formed of flexible material and joined together to form two end edges and two side edges;
a plurality of tubular baffles, each tubular baffle being disposed within the inflatable bioreactor bag and mounted to the top sheet via a single inlet and outlet port corresponding to the tubular baffle for transporting material into and out of said inflatable bioreactor bag; and
a plurality of diffusers mounted to the bottom sheet, each diffuser corresponding to each tubular baffle, and each diffuser is configured to mount each tubular baffle to the bottom sheet, wherein the tubular baffle extends in a direction away from the bottom sheet in a region where the shortest distance to the closest one of said two end edges is higher than about one fourth of the shortest distance between said two end edges, and wherein each diffuser comprising at least one opening forming an open flow-path for cell suspension through the diffuser and a lumen of the tubular baffle, wherein at least one baffle of the plurality of baffles is of a curved shape and in contact with the cell suspension within said inflatable bioreactor bag, and offset and spaced from the remaining of the plurality of the tubular baffles in the region.

2. The inflatable bioreactor bag of claim 1 , wherein said inflatable bioreactor bag is equipped with sterile connectors and irradiated.

3. The inflatable bioreactor bag of claim 1 , wherein each diffuser comprises a bottom ring or plate, a plurality of struts joining said bottom ring or plate to a tube connector and the opening is between said struts.

4. The inflatable bioreactor bag of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the single inlet and outlet ports on said top sheet is further connected to at least one filter or a gravitational device, outside the inflatable bioreactor bag.

5. The inflatable bioreactor bag of claim 4 , wherein said filter is a microfilter or an ultrafilter with a retentate side and a permeate side.

6. The inflatable bioreactor bag of claim 4 , wherein said filter or gravitational device is further connected to an air actuated membrane pump.

7. The inflatable bioreactor bag of claim 5 , wherein two of the single inlet and outlet ports on said top sheet are connected via a pump to the retentate side of said filter, forming a retentate loop.

8. A bioreactor comprising the inflatable bioreactor bag, the inflatable bioreactor bag comprising:
a top sheet and a bottom sheet, each being formed of flexible material and joined together to form two end edges and two side edges;
a plurality of tubular baffles, each tubular baffle being disposed within the inflatable bioreactor bag and mounted to the top sheet via a single inlet and outlet port corresponding to the tubular baffle for transporting material into and out of said inflatable bioreactor bag; and
a plurality of diffusers mounted to the bottom sheet, each diffuser corresponding to each tubular baffle of the plurality of tubular baffles, and each diffuser is configured to mount each tubular baffle to the bottom sheet, wherein the tubular baffle extends in a direction away from the bottom sheet in a region where the shortest distance to any one of said two end edges is higher than about one fourth of the shortest distance between said two end edges, and wherein each diffuser comprising at least one opening forming an open flow-path for cell suspension through the diffuser and a lumen of the tubular baffle,
wherein the inflatable bioreactor bag is mounted on a support which is pivotally mounted to a base about a movable axis generally parallel to said end edges,
wherein at least one baffle of the plurality of baffles is of a curved shape and in contact with the cell suspension within said inflatable bioreactor bag, and configured to intensify agitation of the cell suspension, wherein the at least one baffle is offset and spaced from the remaining of the plurality of the tubular baffles in the region.

9. The inflatable bioreactor bag of claim 1 , which is generally rectangular.

10. The inflatable bioreactor bag of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of tubular baffles are prepared from an elastomeric material.

11. The inflatable bioreactor bag of claim 3 , wherein said at least one opening of each diffuser have both length and width larger than 2 mm.

12. The inflatable bioreactor bag of claim 3 , wherein said at least one opening of each diffuser have both length of 5-25 mm and width of 2.5-10 mm.

13. The inflatable bioreactor bag of claim 3 , wherein each diffuser comprises a generally frustoconical cavity connected to said opening and to said tubular baffle.

14. The inflatable bioreactor bag of claim 4 , wherein said filter is a hollow fiber cartridge.

Assignees

• Chotteau Veronique
• Diana Rafael
• Kaisermayer Christian
• Lindskog Eva
• Robinson Craig
• Rucker Jimmie L
• Walsh Kieron D
• Ge Healthcare Bio Sciences Ab

Inventors

• Chotteau Veronique
• Diana Rafael
• Kaisermayer Christian
• Lindskog Eva
• Robinson Craig
• Rucker Jimmie L
• Walsh Kieron D

Classifications

• C12M23/14 Primary

  Bags · CPC title

• C12M27/16

  Vibrating; Shaking; Tilting · CPC title

• C12M27/20

  Baffles; Ribs; Ribbons; Auger vanes · CPC title

• B01F11/0017

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B01F15/0085

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic