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. 2006 May 25:5:21.
doi: 10.1186/1475-2859-5-21.

Miniature bioreactors: current practices and future opportunities

Jonathan I Betts  1 , Frank Baganz
Affiliations

Miniature bioreactors: current practices and future opportunities

Jonathan I Betts et al. Microb Cell Fact. .

Abstract

This review focuses on the emerging field of miniature bioreactors (MBRs), and examines the way in which they are used to speed up many areas of bioprocessing. MBRs aim to achieve this acceleration as a result of their inherent high-throughput capability, which results from their ability to perform many cell cultivations in parallel. There are several applications for MBRs, ranging from media development and strain improvement to process optimisation. The potential of MBRs for use in these applications will be explained in detail in this review. MBRs are currently based on several existing bioreactor platforms such as shaken devices, stirred-tank reactors and bubble columns. This review will present the advantages and disadvantages of each design together with an appraisal of prototype and commercialised devices developed for parallel operation. Finally we will discuss how MBRs can be used in conjunction with automated robotic systems and other miniature process units to deliver a fully-integrated, high-throughput (HT) solution for cell cultivation process development.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Illustration of the trade off in information output versus HT capability that currently exists for various cell cultivation devices at different scales (adapted from Doig et al., 2006 [3]). This figure shows that as bioreactors increase in scale, typically more process information is available due to improved monitoring and control systems.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Technical illustration of an 18 ml working volume miniature stirred bioreactor (MSBR) prototype [40].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Diagram of the miniature bubble column reactor (MBCR) prototype designed and developed at UCL.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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