Modelling and simulation of the chondrocyte cell growth, glucose consumption and lactate production within a porous tissue scaffold inside a perfusion bioreactor

Md Shakhawath Hossain; D J Bergstrom; X B Chen

doi:10.1016/j.btre.2014.12.002

Modelling and simulation of the chondrocyte cell growth, glucose consumption and lactate production within a porous tissue scaffold inside a perfusion bioreactor

Biotechnol Rep (Amst). 2014 Dec 8:5:55-62. doi: 10.1016/j.btre.2014.12.002. eCollection 2015 Mar.

Authors

Md Shakhawath Hossain¹, D J Bergstrom¹, X B Chen¹

Affiliation

¹ Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Saskatchewan, 57 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada.

Abstract

Mathematical and numerical modelling of the tissue culture process in a perfusion bioreactor is able to provide insight into the fluid flow, nutrients and wastes transport, dynamics of the pH value, and the cell growth rate. Knowing the complicated interdependence of these processes is essential for optimizing the culture process for cell growth. This paper presents a resolved scale numerical simulation, which allows one not only to characterize the supply of glucose inside a porous tissue scaffold in a perfusion bioreactor, but also to assess the overall culture condition and predict the cell growth rate. The simulation uses a simplified scaffold that consists of a repeatable unit composed of multiple strands. The simulation results explore some problematic regions inside the simplified scaffold where the concentration of glucose becomes lower than the critical value for the chondrocyte cell viability and the cell growth rate becomes significantly reduced.

Keywords: Cell growth rate; Glucose and lactate transport; Lattice Boltzmann method; Modeling and simulation; Shear stress.