No Risk to Sensitive Media

Animal or plant cells used in biopharmaceutical production can be very sensitive to external mechanical forces such as shear stress. Besides the loss in biological activity, cell disruption can lead to the release of cell components and enrichment of cell debris in the culture media.

Learn how the LEVITRONIX magnetic levitation technology MagLev can help you to prevent loosing valuable cell suspension and help you to save time and money.

See how different pumps interact with cell suspensions

Higher Cell Viability Compared to Peristaltic Pumps

Based on CFD modelling it is known that MagLev pumps maintain very low shear force levels even at increased rotational speed. In order to understand the relation between shear force level occurring and cell viability, damages tests with CHO cells (CHO XM111‐10) have been performed by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences ZHAW.

For the test CHO cells were cultivated in the single‐use wave‐mixed system and then circulated in a defined set-up under different working conditions. As a result relative cell viability over time was measured.

The figure on the right hand side shows the comparison of two different peristaltic pumps, a LEVITRONX MagLev pump as well as a static sample which was not circulated.

Time‐dependent viability of the cell suspension pumped with 3.4 l/min
Viabilities determined in the first test case (pressure of 31 ± 2 mbar).
CHO cell viability over time: Comparison 4-piston-membrane pump versus different size MagLev pumps and reference samples

Higher Cell Viability Compared to 4-Piston Pumps

The recent introduction of 4-piston membrane pumps is being seen as an alternative offering to the peristaltic pumps with the aim to improve reliability and processing performance. These pumps were also investigated and compared to different size LEVITRONIX MagLev pumps.

The chart on the left hand side shows again CHO cell viability over time using the different pump systems in a defined circulation scenario. Also two reference samples, one static and one shaken, were provided as comparison benchmarks.

Determined cell death coefficients for peristaltic and MagLev pumps
Determined cell death coefficients: MagLev versus Peristaltic pumps
Cell death rates determined for the different pressure situations.
Determined cell death coefficients for 4-piston and MagLev pumps