Gentle, bubble-free methods for oxygenating cells
See below for ways to oxygenate cells without agitation or bubble-related stress…
Static culture with basal gas-exchange membrane
In conventional static culture flasks, the rate of oxygen diffusion to cells depends on the depth of the culture medium, and medium depth is usually kept at less than 5mm. This means that the volume of media per flask is low and that frequent media changes are required which is a major obstacle to growing large numbers of cells, such as T-Cells or hybridomas.
A major innovation has been the introduction of static culture vessels incorporating a basal gas exchange membrane. These devices enable cells to remain well oxygenated even under a large height of medium, meaning that suspension cells can be grown continuously to high numbers without the need for media changes.
PMP hollow fiber oxgenator
Hollow fiber oxygenators incorporate a high surface of gas exchange membrane per cartridge volume and provide a compact, efficient and gentle way of oxygenating recirculated culture media. Many hundreds of fibers can be bundled to meet the oxygen demand of high-density or large-scale cultures and KDBIO offers a range of 3 standard cartridge sizes incorporating the latest very thin and very hydrophobic PMP membranes that avoid “weeping”.
Media is typically circulated from the culture vessel through the extra-capillary side of the fiber and gas is pumped through the lumen of the fibers. Media is efficiently oxygenated and simultaneously stripped of CO2.
