Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MCRD (Development Of Microfluidic Based Low Cost Industrial Cryo-Ready Devices For Preservation Of Living Cells)
Reporting period: 2020-03-01 to 2022-02-28
The increased demand for cell therapy products requires that the World Health Organisation issue new regulations for the clinical storage and applications of these developed products. An immediate need is to create research and infrastructure for the long-time storage of the products. Current processes such as cryopreservation, lyophilisation and desiccation are highly toxic for cell viability. The EU-funded MCRD project is proposing a collaboration with French company Eden Tech to develop a microfluidic-based cryo-ready device for plug-and-play type biological cell sample storage and testing. The novel product will pave the way for further advanced studies into physical biology.
The project developed a new cryopreservation system using peltier units, capable of reaching required temperatures for cryopreservation of microfluidic units uniformely and at low energy costs. The system was first designed and computationally validated, before being built. The prototype demonstrated some variation to the computational results, probably due to the poor-cooling system of the peltier units. Cells were frozen effectively with the unit
The prototype demonstrate a compact, portable, low-energy cryopreservation system, free from liquid nitrogen requirements. The system performed adequately, but highlighted the need for a more efficient cooling approach for the Peltier units. The cryopreservation system is ideal for freezing microfluidic systems and is currently being considered for freezing of microfluidic organoid bioreactors. The unit is central for the development of microfluidic bioreactors and microfluidic cell culture, as a required step for transfer of materials.