3D Bioreactors for Cell Culture: Fluid Dynamics Aspects

Reconstructive therapy is essential in functionality restoration of the tissues impaired by congenital disorders, degenerative diseases and trauma that needs authentic cells for transplantation and tissue engineering. Petri dish and Cell Culture Flasks produce the cells which properties were changed by the contacts between the cells and the walls of the vessel. A bioreactor for tissue engineering applications should: (i) facilitate uniform cell distribution; (ii) provide and maintain the physiological requirements of the cell (e.g., nutrients, oxygen, growth factors); (iii) increase mass transport by diffusion and convection using mixing systems of culture medium; (iv) expose the cells to vital physical stimuli; and (v) enable reproducibility, control, monitoring and automation. Besides, bioreactors should present a simple reliable design preventing possible stagnation and allowing an easy access to the engineered tissue if any problem arises in the reactor during the operational period. In this paper the state-of-the-art review on different types of the reactors existed in the market, and their benefits is presented. The review is mostly concentrated on the fluid dynamics aspects of 3D dynamic cell culture technologies.