Microbubble devices, methods and systems
A hydrogel tissue engineering scaffold having microbubbles dispersed therein is disclosed. Also, a system for cell culturing including a controller and actuator to apply dynamic deformational loading to a hydrogel is disclosed. Also disclosed are methods for producing hydrogels with microbubbles and for culturing cells using hydrogels with microbubbles.
1. A cell culture apparatus comprising:
a first chemical treatment;
a hydrogel scaffold having gas-filled microbubbles and cells dispersed in the hydrogel, the hydrogel scaffold being floated on top of the first chemical treatment; and
a second chemical treatment applied to a top of the hydrogel scaffold.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the microbubbles have a shell comprising a protein, lipid or polymer.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the cells are chondrocyte cells.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the microbubbles are dispersed in the hydrogel before the hydrogel is polymerized.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the microbubbles have a volume density of more than 5%.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the microbubbles are less than 10 microns in diameter.