Experimental determination of maximum shear stress in Mobius® Breez perfusion microbioreactors and comparative analysis with stirred tank bioreactors

Perfusion processes have experienced increased popularity in recent years due to their ability to sustain high cell densities and productivities in biopharmaceutical production, offering advantages over traditional batch and fed-batch cultivation methods. The Mobius® Breez microbioreactor significantly reduces experimental effort by downsizing the classical volume of perfusion bioreactors to the mL range and thus represents a valuable tool for process development. However, miniaturization has raised questions regarding comparability with traditional bioreactors in terms of the physical environment, such as hydrodynamic shear stress. Therefore, the maximum hydrodynamic shear stress, cultivation performance, and membrane-wall contact were evaluated to elucidate the system's behavior. Findings reveal two distinct operational conditions, distinguished by the presence or absence of membrane-wall contact, resulting in varying levels of hydrodynamic stress. Conditions lacking membrane contact demonstrate stress levels within safe operating thresholds for CHO cells, while those involving membrane contact exceed these thresholds, potentially leading to cell damage. Through the identification of critical frequencies of membrane motion, this study offers insights for optimizing microbioreactor operation and enhancing overall bioprocess efficiency.

Keywords

Shear stress, Cell cultivation, PMMA aggregates, Mobius® Breez microbioreactor system, Perfusion

Subject (DDC)

600 - Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften

Project

Event

Exhibition start date

Exhibition end date

Conference start date

Conference end date

Date of the last check

ISBN

ISSN

1369-703X
1873-295X

Language

English

Created during FHNW affiliation

Yes

Strategic action fields FHNW

Publication status

Published

Review

Peer review of the complete publication

Open access category

Hybrid

License

Citation

Romann, P., Trunov, D., Šrom, O., Lee, H. L. T., Lee, K. S., Trocki, R., Ephraim, D., Bielser, J.-M., Souquet, J., Šoóš, M., & Villiger, T. (2025). Experimental determination of maximum shear stress in Mobius® Breez perfusion microbioreactors and comparative analysis with stirred tank bioreactors. Biochemical Engineering Journal, 213, 109556. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bej.2024.109556

Full item page