SBIR Phase I: Development of a BioAcoustic Mixing Platform

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This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will demonstrate the feasibility of usingResonantAcoustics (low-frequency acoustic mixing) as the basis for developing a highly efficientBioAcoustic Mixing Platform (BMP). Conventional biological orbital shakers and cell culture flasks havesubstantial drawbacks that include low oxygen transfer capability and presence of detrimental oxygen and nutrient gradients. Culture containers placed on the BMP, in contrast, are expected to achieve superior mass transfer rates (that is, increased oxygen transfer and reduced mixing times). In this Phase I project, new types of disposable culture containers and closures will be designed in order to take full advantage of the enhanced acoustic mixing for both microbial and cell cultures. Performance of the BMP will be compared to conventional shakers and flasks for bacterial, fungal, and animal cell cultures. It is anticipated that the BMP will be able to support dramatically increased biomass levels and lead to the development of highly productive disposable bioreactor systems. The commercial application of this project will be in biotechnology based process development activities for the biological production of pharmaceuticals. Much of this work is currently performed using stirred-tank bioreactors due to the limitations of orbital shake-flasks and cell culture flasks. A mixing technology that integrates laboratory-scale and pilot-scale experiments would be highly valuable in speeding the pace of process development.