A perfusion platform is a system designed to sustain living cells, tissues, or even whole organs outside of a living body. By controlling various physical and chemical parameters, these platforms allow for the extended maintenance and study of biological materials in a controlled laboratory setting. This capability opens avenues for advanced research and medical applications that require mimicking physiological conditions.
What is a Perfusion Platform
The term “perfusion” refers to the process of circulating fluids through the vascular system of an organ or tissue, delivering oxygen and nutrients while removing waste products. A perfusion platform specifically facilitates this continuous flow and exchange of substances for biological materials outside of a living organism.
This continuous exchange of culture medium is achieved by retaining cells within a bioreactor while simultaneously supplying fresh medium and removing spent medium and metabolic byproducts. Unlike static cell culture methods, where cells are grown in a fixed volume of medium that is periodically replaced, perfusion systems ensure a constant supply of fresh nutrients and efficient waste removal. This dynamic environment prevents the accumulation of toxic substances and nutrient depletion, which limits cell growth and viability in static cultures. The continuous flow also supports higher cell densities and maintains cell viability over longer durations, beneficial for complex biological models.
How Perfusion Platforms Operate
Perfusion platforms function through interconnected components that maintain a stable, life-sustaining environment for biological materials. Pumps circulate the perfusate, a specialized solution mimicking blood or other bodily fluids. These pumps provide continuous or pulsatile flow, depending on the physiological requirements of the tissue or organ.
The perfusate is stored in reservoirs before circulation. The biological material, whether cells, tissues, or organs, is housed within a bioreactor or specialized chamber. Precise control over parameters such as temperature, oxygen levels, and pH is maintained using sensors and control units. For instance, a membrane oxygenator delivers oxygen and removes carbon dioxide, while a heater-cooler unit regulates temperature to physiological ranges, such as 37°C.
These systems incorporate in-line sensors that continuously monitor parameters like pressure, flow rate, temperature, and concentrations of oxygen, glucose, and lactate. This real-time monitoring allows for automated adjustments to the perfusion protocol, ensuring optimal conditions for the sustained viability and function of the biological material.
Where Perfusion Platforms are Used
Perfusion platforms are used across diverse scientific and medical fields, offering a controlled environment for complex biological studies and applications.
Drug Testing
In drug testing, these platforms allow researchers to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of new pharmaceutical compounds on human tissues or organ models, providing more accurate results than traditional animal testing. For example, a standalone perfusion platform has been developed to test vasoactive drugs on engineered micro-vessel networks. These systems can also be used to assess the sensitivity of primary tumor cells to chemotherapies, with perfused samples showing similar gene expression profiles and drug resistance patterns as observed in vivo.
Disease Modeling
These platforms are instrumental in disease modeling, enabling the creation of realistic representations of human diseases outside the body. Researchers can cultivate diseased tissues or organoids under controlled perfusion conditions to study disease progression and evaluate potential therapeutic interventions. This includes creating 3D models of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma or maintaining breast tumor specimens to study tumor microenvironment interactions.
Organ Preservation
A significant application of perfusion platforms is in organ preservation for transplantation, extending the viability of donor organs beyond the limited time offered by traditional cold storage. Systems like the Organ Care System (OCS) can preserve hearts, lungs, livers, and kidneys by perfusing them with warm, oxygenated blood, significantly extending the window between retrieval and transplant. This technology allows for the assessment of organ function before transplantation and can even revive non-beating donor hearts, expanding the pool of usable organs.
Tissue Engineering
Perfusion platforms are applied in tissue engineering for growing complex tissues or organs for regenerative medicine. These systems enhance oxygen and nutrient transport, which promotes tissue formation and growth, and facilitate enhanced spatial organization within tissue patches. Perfusion decellularization, for instance, can produce human composite tissue scaffolds with preserved native extracellular matrix and an intact vascular template, which can then be repopulated with cells for reconstructive surgery.
Benefits of Using Perfusion Platforms
Perfusion platforms offer significant advantages compared to static cell culture methods, providing a more physiologically relevant environment for biological studies. Unlike static cultures where nutrient depletion and waste accumulation limits cell viability and function, perfusion systems ensure a continuous supply of fresh nutrients and efficient removal of metabolic byproducts. This dynamic exchange maintains higher cell densities and prolonged cell viability, leading to stable and consistent product quality.
The ability of these platforms to mimic in vivo conditions results in reliable and predictive research outcomes. This physiological relevance reduces reliance on animal testing, offering a cost-effective alternative for drug screening and disease modeling. For organ transplantation, perfusion technology extends organ preservation times, allowing for better logistical planning and increasing the number of usable donor organs. This extended viability and pre-transplant assessment of organ function improve post-transplant outcomes.
Perfusion platforms accelerate new therapy development by providing a controlled, scalable environment for cell and tissue growth. They enable continuous operation, reduce downtime, and improve facility throughput, contributing to efficient biomanufacturing processes. This leads to increased productivity and lower manufacturing costs for biopharmaceuticals.