Device for cultivating cells of animal and human tissues

Claim 1

An arrangement for cultivating cells of animal and human tissues which are highly susceptible to damage resulting from agitation, comprising an upright container for nutrient solution containing the cells which tend to settle in the solution; guide means located in said container and subdividing the interior of the latter into two zones; means for accommodating an oxygen-containing gas and including a gas chamber located below said container; and means for introducing said oxygen-containing gas from said gas chamber of said accommodating means into said container, and including a plate separating said chamber from said container and having at least one outlet opening communicating with said interior and through which said oxygen-containing gas is introduced into said container so as to impart to said nutrient solution a circulatory movement between said zones which is sufficient to prevent the cells from settling and maintain them in suspended state, but is so slight as to avoid agitating said nutrient solution with concomitant damage to the cells, said introducing means constituting the only means for imparting circulatory movement to said nutrient solution, said container having side walls, and said guide means being a tubular member located within said container and inwardly spaced from said side walls thereof, so as to form an inner hollow inside said tubular member defining one of said zones and an outer hollow between said tubular member and the walls of said container defining the other of said zones, for circulating said nutrient solution therethrough, said tubular member being elongated in a substantially vertical direction and having at least two portions which are spaced from each other in the direction of elongation thereof and define therebetween a further outlet opening so that said nutrient solution circulates between said inner and said outer hollow through said further opening.