Three-dimensional bioreactor for cell expansion and related applications

1. A 3D bioreactor for growth of cells comprising:

a biocompatible polymeric material having a plurality of voids and a surface area for cell expansion, said plurality of voids having a diameter D in the range of 0.4 mm to 50.0 mm, a plurality of pore openings between said voids having a diameter d in the range of 0.2 mm to 10.0 mm and said voids have a radius of curvature Rc of 5.0 mm −1 or less, such that D>d wherein: (a) 90% or more of said voids have a selected void volume (V) that does not vary by more than +/−10.0%; and (b) 90% or more of said pore openings between said voids have a value of d that does not vary by more than +/−10.0%.

2. The 3D bioreactor of claim 1 wherein said voids have a diameter (D) of 0.4 mm to 25.0 mm.

3. The 3D bioreactor of claim 1 wherein said voids have a diameter (D) in the range of 2.0 mm to 10.0 mm.

4. The 3D bioreactor of claim 1 wherein said pores have a diameter (d) in the range of 0.2 mm to 2.0 mm.

5. The 3D bioreactor of claim 1 wherein 95.0% or more of said voids indicate a void volume (V) that does not vary by more than +/−10.0%.

6. The 3D bioreactor of claim 1 wherein 99.0% to 100% of said voids indicate a void volume (V) that does not vary by more than +/−10.0%.

7. The 3D bioreactor of claim 1 wherein 95.0% or more of said pore openings between said voids have a value of d that does not vary by more than +/−10.0%.

8. The 3D bioreactor of claim 1 wherein 99.0 to 100% or more of said pore openings between said voids have a value of d that does not vary by more than +/−10.0%.

9. The 3D bioreactor of claim 1 wherein at least 90.0% of the voids present have 2 pore openings per void.

10. The 3D bioreactor of claim 1 wherein at least 90.0% of the voids present have 8 to 12 pore openings per void.

11. The 3D bioreactor of claim 1 wherein said voids have an internal concave surface.

12. The 3D reactor of claim 1 wherein said voids comprise spherical voids.

13. The 3D bioreactor of claim 12 wherein said spherical voids have a packing efficiency of greater than 64.0% in a 3D cylindrical space.

14. The 3D bioreactor of claim 1 wherein said 3D bioreactor is formed from a material that has a Tensile Modulus of at least 0.01 GPa.

15. The 3D bioreactor of claim 14 wherein said voids have a radius of curvature Rc that is less than or equal to 1.0 mm −1 .

16. The 3D bioreactor of claim 1 wherein said 3D bioreactor is formed from a material not susceptible to hydrolysis during cell cultivation such that the amount of hydrolysis does not exceed 5.0% by weight of the material present.

17. The 3D bioreactor of claim 1 wherein said bioreactor has a diameter Φ and a height H and the ratio Φ:H is in the range of greater than 1:1 to 100:1.

18. The 3D bioreactor of claim 1 , wherein said bioreactor surface includes polydopamine that is capable of binding additional layer or layers for cell culturing via functional ligands.

19. The 3D bioreactor of claim 1 wherein said voids have a radius of curvature Rc that is less than or equal to 1.0 mm −1 .

20. The 3D bioreactor of claim 1 wherein said bioreactor comprises a hexagonal close packed lattice.

21. The 3D bioreactor of claim 1 wherein 90.0% to 100% of the voids have 8-12 pore openings per void.

22. A 3D bioreactor for growth of cells comprising:

a biocompatible polymeric material having a first and second plurality of voids having a surface area for cell expansion;

said first plurality of voids having a diameter D 1 in the range of 0.4 mm to 50.0 mm, a plurality of pore openings between said first plurality of voids having a diameter d 1 in the range of 0.2 mm to 10.0 mm and said voids have a radius of curvature Rc of 5.0 mm −1 or less, wherein D 1 >d 1 , where 90% or more of the first plurality of voids have a void volume (V 1 ) with a tolerance that does not vary by more than +/−10.0%;

said second plurality of voids having a diameter D 2 , a plurality of pore openings between said second plurality of voids having a diameter d 2 wherein D 2 >d 2 , wherein 90% of the second plurality of voids have a void volume (V 2 ) with a tolerance that does not vary by more than +/−10.0%; and

the values of V 1 and V 2 are different and outside of said tolerance variations such that

[ V 1 +/−10.0%]≠[ V 2 +/−10.0%].

23. The 3D bioreactor of claim 22 wherein said first plurality of voids have a radius of curvature Rc that is less than or equal to 1.0 mm −1 .

24. A method of forming a 3D bioreactor for growth of cells comprising a plurality of voids having a surface area for cell expansion wherein said voids have a diameter D in the range of 0.4 mm mm to 50.0 mm and a plurality of pore openings between said voids having a diameter d in the range of 0.2 mm to 10.0 mm and said voids have a radius of curvature Rc of 5.0 mm −1 or less:

(a) identifying for said plurality of voids a targeted internal void volume (V t );

(b) identifying for said 3D bioreactor a targeted surface area (SA t );

(c) forming said 3D bioreactor from biocompatible polymeric material with: (1) an actual void volume (V a ) for said one or more voids, wherein V a is within +/−10.0% of V t ; and (2) an actual surface area (SA a ) wherein SA a is within +/−10.0% of SA t ;

(d) positioning said 3D bioreactor in a perfusion system which delivers a flow of a cell culture medium through the 3D bioreactor for promoting said cell growth.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein said 3D bioreactor is seeded with seeding cells on said actual surface area (SA a ).

26. The method of claim 24 further comprising delivering said flow of cell culture medium through said 3D bioreactor and forming a monolayer cell culture wherein said cell culture avoids cell-cell contact inhibition and cell differentiation.

27. The method of claim 24 wherein said voids have a radius of curvature Rc that is less than or equal to 1.0 mm −1 .