System for metering nutrient media to cell culture containers and method

A system for metering nutrient media to a plurality of cell culture containers in substantially aseptic manner, which comprises:

• a media flow conduit which defines at one end means for substantially aseptic communication with a source of said media;
• a branch conduit extending from said flow conduit at a location spaced from its ends;
• said branch conduit communicating with means for receiving a predetermined-volume aliquot of media through the media flow conduit from said one end, said flow conduit defining a branched portion downstream from said branch conduit which communicates with said cell culture containers, each container being a flexible bag, at least part of which is made of a material capable of providing at least 2 times the oxygen diffusion and at least 2 times the carbon dioxide diffusion between the bag interior and exterior, compared with an identically-sized, sealed bag having polyethylene walls 0.013 inch thick, each bag containing a flexible, open cell structure to increase the surface area within each bag for cell adhesion.

A system for metering nutrient media to at least one cell culture container in substantially aseptic manner, which comprises:

• a container of said nutrient media;
• a media flow conduit communicating at one end with the interior of said container in substantially aseptic manner;
• means for passing aliquots of said nutrient media of predetermined volume through said media flow conduit, said flow conduit defining a portion adjacent its end opposed to said one end which communicates with at least one cell culture container, said cell culture container being a flexible bag, at least part of which is made of a material providing at least 2 times the oxygen diffusion and at least 2 times the carbon dioxide diffusion between the bag interior and exterior, compared with an identically-sized sealed bag having polyethylene walls 0.013 inch thick, said bag containing a flexible, open cell structure to increase the surface area within each bag for cell adhesion.