Takagi Industrial Co., Ltd.

Other

Purpose Company Limited

The Brigham and Women's Hospital, Inc.

Setsuo Watanabe

Takao Takagi

Shuichi Mizuno

Hidetada Takai

Ibuki Kinouchi

Julie Glowacki

Yoshinobu Masuda

Shuji Inagaki

A cultivation apparatus and a cultivation method of a culture such as a cell or tissue. Provided are an incubator unit for accommodating a culture and a lever that penetrates through the incubator unit and can move in circular arc around a fulcrum as a center, the fulcrum being set at a wall of the incubator unit or in the vicinity thereof, then displacement is imparted to the culture by operating the lever. Bending force can be acted on the culture (cell construct) such as a cell or tissue, so that without any increase or decrease of a culture fluid in the incubator unit, namely, without any increase or decrease of pressure to the culture fluid, displacement required for cultivation can be imparted to the culture in the incubator unit. By curving, continuous compression and extension are generated in a direction of thickness from a concave portion to a convex portion of the curving.

Cell or tissue cultivation apparatus and method of cultivation

A method for cultivating a culture of a cell, tissue, etc. There is provided a method of cultivating a culture including a cell or tissue (cell construct), imparting bending motion to the culture. By virtue of applying bending force to a culture of a cell, tissue, etc. (cell construct) to thereby curve the culture, continuous compression and extension in a direction of thickness from a concave portion toward a convex portion thereof are induced. The physical stimulation and deformation not attained by conventional pressurization, shear and tension, then can be loaded on the culture to thereby realize the culture appropriate for restoration of tissue at a region accompanied by bending.

Method of cultivating cell or tissue

A culture chamber which cultivates a culture object by using a culture liquid has a culture space part which houses the culture object together with the culture liquid, an introducing part (an introducing port) which introduces the culture liquid into the culture space part, a discharging part (a discharging port) which discharges the culture liquid from the culture space part, and a flow arrangement part (a vertical wall, a small space part). The flow arrangement part is formed in a side of the introducing part of the culture space part, and causes a liquid flow, which reaches to the discharging part, to the culture liquid introduced into the culture space part from the introducing part by diffusing from inner wall surfaces of the culture space part toward a direction which intersects a virtual line connecting the introducing part and the discharging part.

Culture chamber, culture apparatus and liquid supplying method for cell or tissue cultivation

A cell/tissue culture apparatus for applying a desired tensile stress to a material to be cultivated such as a cell or tissue as a physical stimulation, thereby enhancing acceleration of culture of the material to be cultivated. The cell/tissue culture apparatus comprises a chamber (a culture chamber) for circulating a culture fluid (), a material to be cultivated (a matrix) that is placed and cultivated in the chamber, stress generation means (an electromagnetic stretcher, an actuator) for causing a tensile stress to act on the material to be cultivated from an outside of the chamber, and control means (controllers) for causing the tensile stress generated by the stress generation means to intermit as well as undergo gradual increase or gradual decrease. The material to be cultivated can be caused to undergo expansion or contraction by applying and relieving the tensile stress, thereby applying a physical stimulation necessary for the proliferation to the material to be cultivated.

Cell/tissue culture apparatus

A cell/tissue culture apparatus is suitable for a culture of a cultivated object of a cell or tissue adapted for a prescribed portion of a living body of a breast and so on, a culture chamber (, a culture vessel) which accommodates a cell or tissue to be cultivated and also makes a culture fluid () circulate is formed by a flexible material (flexible films), and the culture chamber is immersed in a fluid (water). A pressure or an oscillation is given to the culture chamber installed in the fluid, and a physical stimulation due to the pressure from the fluid or the oscillation of the fluid is given to a cell or tissue under a culture.

The invention provides a cell/tissue culture apparatus capable of applying an optional physical stimulation to a material to be cultivated serving as a cell or tissue to be cultivated and of protecting the material to be cultivated from contamination of various bacteria and so forth. The cell/tissue culture apparatus comprises a chamber (culture chamber) for accommodating the material to be cultivated (matrix) therein and receiving a culture fluid (), a disc () rotatably installed in the chamber for applying a physical stimulation to the material to be cultivated by way of the culture fluid () when it is rotated, and rotary driving means (external rotation bodyand motor) for applying a rotating force to the disc from an outside of the chamber in a state where it does not contact the disc, and it can apply an optional physical stimulation to the material to be cultivated serving as the cell or tissue to be cultivated, protecting the material to be cultivated from contamination of bacteria and so forth.

A cell/tissue culture apparatus can give a physical stimulation necessary for proliferation and growth to a cultured object which is a cell or tissue to be cultured. The cell/tissue culture apparatus has a chamber (a culture chamber) which accommodates a cultured object (a matrix) and supplies a culture fluid (), a pressing means (a pressing plate) which is movably arranged in the chamber and gives a physical stimulation due to a press to the cultured object by movement thereof, and a driving means (a pressure unit, an electromagnet unit) which gives a driving force to the pressing means for applying the physical stimulation to the cultured object from an outside of the chamber in a state out of contact with the pressing means.

Apparatus for culturing cell/tissue

The invention provides a cell/tissue culture apparatus for applying a physical stimulation necessary for the proliferation and growth of a cell or tissue to a material to be cultivated serving as a cell or tissue to be cultivated, thereby realizing the culture as desired and protecting the material to be cultivated from contamination of various bacteria and so forth. The cell/tissue culture apparatus comprises a cylindrically formed material to be cultivated (matrix), a chamber (culture chamber) for accommodating therein the material to be cultivated, a circulation path (first circulation path) connected to the material to be cultivated through which a culture fluid is circulated in an inner side of the material to be cultivated, a pump (tube pump) for controlling a velocity of the culture fluid, control means (controller) and so forth, wherein the culture fluid () having different flows is supplied to the inner side and an outer side of the material to be cultivated, thereby applying an optional physical stimulation to the material to be cultivated serving as the cell or tissue to be cultivated, thereby realizing the culture as desired and protecting the material to be cultivated from contamination of various bacteria and so forth.

The invention provides a method of and an apparatus for cultivating a cell or tissue capable of preventing the cell or tissue from being contaminated and realizing an efficient in vitro culture. The method of and the apparatus for cultivating a cell or tissue comprise installing a culture position (culture chamber) under an environment that is arbitrarily controlled such as an environment mimicking the living body, supplying a culture medium to the cell or tissue while the cell or tissue is held at the culture position, and cultivating the cell or tissue at the culture position that is under the ideal environment, thereby preventing the cell or tissue from being contaminated and realizing an efficient in vitro culture.

Growing community of inventors

Fuji, Japan

Setsuo Watanabe