Numerical simulation of particle dispersion in a pre-processing of a static culture

Abstract

For producing high-quality induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells in a static culture, initial placement of cells is one of the most important factors. Dense distribution of cells increases the risk of cell death. Thus, the cells need to be uniformly distributed during the preprocess of a static culture. This process depends on the operator’s experiences and has not been standardized. In this study, the authors have performed numerical simulations to investigate the efficient of cell dispersion by using OpenFOAM. The numerical domain is a square-shaped dish. Two shaking methods, one-direction and multi-direction reciprocal shaking, were considered and calculations were conducted under five oscillation frequencies. The cell colony was assumed as a solid spherical particle. The initial particles were densely positioned at the center. The numerical result showed that the multi-direction reciprocal shaking was more effective to disperse the particles than the one-direction reciprocal shaking. In addition, almost all particles at low frequency sank to the bottom and hardly dispersed. These results indicate that strong fluctuations can lift particles from the bottom, and frequent change of flow direction makes distribution area wide.