by Types of Bioreactors
There are various types of biological reactor that are used for different purposes across industries like healthcare, food processing, chemical production and more. Some of the major types include:
Stirred tank biological reactor: These are the most common type of bioreactor used in research, development and industrial manufacturing. A stirred tank bioreactor consists of a sealed vessel with stirring mechanisms to keep the culture mixed and ensure equal distribution of nutrients, oxygen and removal of waste products. It allows for easy scale-up and precise control over process parameters.
Airlift biological reactor: An airlift Bioreactors utilizes the lifting action generated by the sparging of air or oxygen beneath a draft tube located in the center of the reactor vessel. This lifting action establishes a circulation pattern that effectively mixes the culture without the need for mechanical agitation. They provide gentler mixing than stirred tanks but are not as widely used.
Fluidized bed biological reactor: Here, the culture medium containing cell immobilized beads or microcarriers is made to resemble a fluid state by substrate flowing in an upward direction through the bioreactor. This type of Bioreactors provides maximum surface area for cell attachment and the highest possible cell density. They see applications in wastewater treatment.
Packed bed biological reactor: In these, cells are immobilized on inert solid supports like porous plastic or ceramic beads that are tightly packed in the bioreactor vessel. Nutrients flow through the spaces between beads facilitating cell growth. They have a very high density of biomass but mass transfer limitations.
Monolith biological reactor: These consist of gas-permeable monolith structures made of foams, fiber bundles or sponges upon which cells attach. Nutrients flow through channels in the monolith facilitating circulation. They ensure very high surface area for cell attachment.
Uses of Bioreactors in Healthcare
Biological reactor play a key role in the manufacturing of several pharmaceutical and biomedical products. Here are some of their major applications:
Production of therapeutic proteins: Biological reactor are indispensable for the large-scale production of recombinant therapeutic proteins like monoclonal antibodies, hormones, vaccines and more. They provide the controlled environment needed for the growth and maintenance of cell lines that express the proteins of interest.
Tissue engineering: Biological reactor are used to grow 3D tissues and organs by seeding cells onto a scaffold inside a bioreactor. The controlled conditions allow for uniform cell growth and organisation into functional tissues over time. Some examples include manufacturing of skin grafts, blood vessels and heart valves.
Virus production: Biological reactor serve as miniature biofactories for the mass production of viruses needed for vaccine development. By precisely tuning conditions like pH, oxygen levels, nutrients and temperature, high yields of virus particles are obtained.
Cell therapy manufacturing: With the rise of regenerative medicines, there is a growing need for scalable and robust processes to manufacture the various cell therapy products in clinical trials. Biological reactor play a critical role here by supporting the growth and maintenance of stem cells, immune cells and other therapeutic cell types.
Process Characterization and Optimization
In order to maximize yields and ensure reproducible manufacturing runs in biological reactor, it is important to characterize key culture parameters:
Dissolved oxygen and pH levels: Oxygen uptake rate of cells and pH changes during culture must be monitored online. Systems like oxygen electrodes and pH probes connected to control units help maintain pre-set levels.
Nutrient and metabolite analysis: Glucose, glutamine and other nutrient consumption as well as lactate, ammonia and other waste metabolite production profiles provide insights into cell metabolic activity. Automated sampling systems linked to analytical devices are used.
Cell growth kinetics: Regular sampling and cell counts using methods like turbidity, fluorescence, impedance etc help determine growth phases, doubling times and maximum viable densities reached in the bioreactor.
Metabolite and protein production: For therapeutic protein production, titers need to be tracked throughout the process. Analytical techniques like HPLC, ELISA and western blotting coupled with automated sampling give time- course data on metabolites and target protein levels.
Shear stress mapping: Computational fluid dynamics studies coupled with offline viscometry help map shear stress distributions inside biological reactor. This aids in optimizing impeller configurations to prevent damage to anchorage-dependent cell types.
By gaining a thorough understanding of the cell culture microenvironment and kinetics using these characterization methods, critical process parameters can be identified and controlled precisely to develop robust and optimized biomanufacturing processes.
Future Prospects
As biologics and regenerative therapies assume greater prominence in medicine, the role of scalable and reliable bioprocesses will become more crucial than ever before. Here are some ways biological reactor are poised to evolve in the coming years:
– Continuous manufacturing: New single-use biological reactor designed for continuous processing can improve productivity compared to batch systems and are likely to become increasingly adopted.
– Increased sensor integration: More widespread incorporation of advanced online sensing technologies like spectroscopy, chromatography and image analysis will enable unprecedented process understanding and control.
– Scale-out approaches: Novel miniature bioreactor modules designed for scale-out using principles of modularity and parallelization can help address capacity constraints for high-volume production.
– 3D bioprinting: The ability to 3D bioprint complex living tissues and even entire organs provides opportunities to develop innovative bioreactor designs tailored for perfusion-based maturation of thick engineered constructs.
– Artificial intelligence: Machine learning algorithms trained on vast bioprocess datasets are positioned to revolutionize areas like optimized media design, predictive quality control and autonomously regulated biomanufacturing.
as above trends unfold, biological reactor promise to transform medical manufacturing and play a defining role in realizing the full potential of next-generation therapies. Precise and scalable biomanufacturing will be essential to improve patient access to innovative new drugs, devices and regenerative treatments worldwide.
*Note:
1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public Source, Desk Research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it.
Ravina Pandya, a content writer, has a strong foothold in the market research industry. She specializes in writing well-researched articles from different industries, including food and beverages, information and technology, healthcare, chemicals and materials, etc. With an MBA in E-commerce, she has expertise in SEO-optimized content that resonates with industry professionals.
