Hydrostatic Pressure Generator (HPG) is a portable and autoclavable Mechanical Stimulation Bioreactor including a pressure generating assembly and a fluid filled chamber receiving samples such as cell cultures, biological tissues, and cell seeded biomaterial constructs for the purpose of treatment with hydrostatic pressure. HPG is a standalone mechanical system which can be hand-operated generating pressures up to at least 15-18 MPa without using any electronics and motors. The pressure can be set at different levels from 0 to 18 MPa simply by turning a screw. HPG has a venting system and can be placed in an incubator. The venting system operates after pressure treatment, and samples may not have to be removed from the chamber after each treatment.
Advantage of high physiological pressure levels: In dealing with load bearing tissues such as cartilage and intervertebral disc, hydrostatic pressure magnitude can be the dominating factor in cell mechanical stimulation [1-4]. For cell mechanical stimulation purposes related to tissue regeneration and in vitro studies of cell cultures, using hydrostatic pressures at high physiological levels of up to 10-20 MPa may be necessary to see an efficient regenerative response from cells under study.
Purpose of HPG: Considering the increasing use of hydrostatic pressure for cell mechanical stimulation in tissue engineering, there is a need for a light, portable, and easy to operate hydrostatic pressure device which can generate pressures at high physiological levels up to at least 15 MPa.
References
1. Kasra et al., Journal of Orthopaedic Research, 21:597-603, 2003.
2. Smith et al., Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 37: 153–161, 2000.
3. Meyer et al., J Mech Behav Biomed Mater. 2011 Oct;4(7):1257-65. Epub 2011 Apr 22.
4. Correia et al.,Tissue Eng Part A. 2012 Oct;18(19-20):1979-91.
