Design of a Bioreactor for Myocardial Patch Generation

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, leaving the afflicted with lost or damaged cardiac tissue. Current repair methods include synthetic and extra cellular matrix patches. Cell-derived patches seek to improve on current methods, but production processes are difficult. The goal of this project was to design an improved bioreactor to generate multiple totally cell-derived patches. A bioreactor was designed to allow the production of tissue patches without user intervention. A controllable media distributor circulates media throughout the system that has the ability to generate 12 tissue patches per trial. This automated, versatile device fits in a tissue culture incubator and is compatible with a variety of human cell types for clinical and experimental use