Gas permeable bioreactor and method of use

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Like numbered apparatus elements in FIGS.
1-11 are the same.
Referring to the drawings, FIG.
1 is a cross-sectional side view of a preferred embodiment of the gas permeable bioreactor of the present invention showing a motor assembly unit for rotation purposes.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the bioreactor 2 is made of a tubular vessel 4 with outer walls 24 constructed at least partially of a gas permeable material 6 defining a vessel chamber.
The outer walls 24 themselves may be constructed of the gas permeable material 6 or the material 6 may be made a part of the outer walls 24 in the same manner as the microscope viewports 50 discussed below.
The vessel 4 has closed ends 8 and a substantially horizontal longitudinal central axis 10.
One or more vessel access ports 18 are provided for transferring materials into and out of the vessel 4.
The vessel 4 in one preferred embodiment is constructed such that half of it is comprised of gas permeable material 6 and the remaining portion is made of nonpermeable material 7.
The gas permeable materials 6 commonly available are opaque.
Thus, using nonpermeable material 7 for part of the bioreactor 2 may provide an advantage in allowing visual inspection of the vessel chamber.
To further enhance oxygen absorption into the vessel chamber, depressions 22 may be formed in the outer walls 24 in areas where there is gas permeable material 6.
The thinner the outer wall 24, the less distance the oxygen must travel before entering the vessel chamber.
The gas permeable material 6 used to make the bioreactor 2 preferably is a porous, hydrophobic material.
It may be a porous nonhydrophobic material coated on one side with silicone rubber or some other hydrophobic material to achieve gas permeability.
However, if the pore size of the porous material is one micron or less, a coating is not preferred.
In the preferred embodiment, the porous material used is a "foamed" plastic, which is a hardened porous plastic