Genomic Biochemical Engineering
| | Cell Culture Engineering
| Metabolic
Pathway Engineering
| Liver Cell Self Assembly
| Analysis
of Bioreaction Network | Stem
Cell Culture Engineering | Image
Processing in Fluorescence Microscopy | Bioartificial
Liver | MAIN
RESEARCH PAGE
The University of Minnesota Bioartificial LiverHow it works:The heart of the University of Minnesota bioartificial device is a hollow fiber cartridge similar to that used for kidney dialysis. Freshly harvested pig liver cells are suspended in a cold collagen solution and injected inside the fibers. The cartridge is then connected to the tubing circuit, and warm medium is perfused outside the fibers. The collagen begins to gel once it is warmed, and within 24hrs., the liver cells pull on the collagen gel to contract to 60% of its original diameter. In the resulting space, a nutrient-rich medium stream is perfused for normal functioning of the liver cells. At this point the device is ready to be hooked up to a patient. The patient's blood is circulated outside the hollow fibers. The fiber membranes allow toxins from the blood to diffuse to the cells, but prevent immune molecules from reaching the cells.
Two hollow fiber cartridges, each containing approximately 40 g of cells, are connected in series within an incubator maintained at 37° C. Because the patient's blood is taken from a vein, it is oxygenated to maintain a sufficient amount of oxygen for the hepatocytes. Temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen are all monitored on-line. The rest of the system consists of the necessary tubing and pumps. |
