AbstractMammalian cell culture in hollow fiber reactors is hampered by oxygen limitation. Diffusive oxygen transport from the fiber wall to the cells can be enhanced by increasing the surface area for oxygenation and/or decreasing the penetration depth. One strategy for improving of surface area to penetration depth ratio is to increase the number of fibers in the reactor. An alternative way to manipulate this ratio is to grow the cells inside the fibers rather than on the outside. The theoretical analysis presented indicates that this is favorable when the volume of the extracapillary space exceeds that of the fiber lumen by a factor four or more. The impact of growing the cells on the inside of the fibers on other aspects of mammalian cell culture in hollow fiber reactors, including mass transport from the bulk of the medium flowing through the reactor to the fiber wall, is discussed.
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