Bioreactor method of culturing and propagating cells with a woven motionless mixing element

In a method for the culturing and growing of cells, which method comprises:

• a) providing a bioreactor containing therein at least one motionless mixing element, the element composed of adjacent sheets of solid or perforated corrugated lamellas, with corrugations of adjacent sheets oriented in different directions and angularly offset from each other to form a plurality of passageways to provide plug flow and radial mixing of at least two components within the motionless mixing element and to provide a solid geometric surface area for the attachment of cells;
• b) attaching cells to be cultivated and propagated to the surface area of the motionless mixing element disposed within the bioreactor;
• c) applying nutrients to the bioreactor and maintaining the attached cells under conditions which permit cell growth and division, to provide for the propagation of the attached cells, and harvesting the cells, the improvement which comprises:
• employing as said sheets of said motionless mixing element a woven, porous, fibrous sheet material providing a woven geometric surface area, the woven, porous, fibrous sheet material of selected dimensions, including fiber diameter and gauze/weave thickness, to provide for the attachment of the cells to the woven geometric surface area of the said motionless mixing element including said woven, porous, fibrous sheet material, with the ratio of the woven geometric surface area to that of said solid geometric surface area of the same motionless mixing element composed of said sheets of solid or perforated corrugated lamella being greater than 1.5, thereby providing for a greater surface area per unit volume of cells, and permitting enhancement in the amount of cells that are attached to the said motionless mixing element geometric surface area;
• d) the woven, porous, fibrous sheet material comprising a corrugated woven metal wire sheet material having corrugations with a height of about 1/16th to 1/2inch;
• e) the motionless mixing element having the lamellas angularly offset to adjacent lamellas up to an angle of 90 degrees;
• and
• f) the cells to be propagated in the bioreactor being less than about 10 microns in size.

A bioreactor for the culturing and growing of anchorage-dependent cells therein, and which bioreactor comprises:

• a) a housing;
• b) a motionless mixing element within the housing composed of woven, porous, fibrous, wire metal sheet material having a geometric surface area, the woven, porous, fibrous, wire metal sheet material of selected dimensions, including fiber diameter and gauze/weave thickness, to provide attachment of the cells to the said geometric surface area of the said motionless mixing element including said woven, porous, fibrous, wire metal sheet material, with the ratio of the said geometric surface area to that of a surface area of the same motionless mixing element composed of a solid, or perforated, sheet material being greater than 1.5, and to provide for a woven geometric surface area with a per unit volume of cells greater than 425M.sup.2 /M.sup.3 thereby providing for a greater surface area per unit volume of cells, and permitting enhancement in the amount of cells that are attached to the said geometric surface area, to provide a plurality of channels therein which converge and diverge to form a plurality of mixing cells, each cell formed and bound by the junction of two inlet channels which converge toward each other at about right angles on one plane, and two outlet channels which diverge from each other at about right angles on another plane, the planes being rotated generally with respect to each other;
• c) cells attached to the motionless mixing element for propagation for the cells;
• d) a nutrient composition to permit the cell growth and division of the attached cells;
• and
• e) means to harvest the cells from the bioreactor after propagation.