Automatic Agitation Apparatus (AAA)

Cell encapsulation is an important technique for use in the field of tissue regeneration. During cell encapsulation, a colloid suspension, made of single cells and extracellular matrix (ECM), is slowly perfused via a syringe pump. Due to differences in density, cells will sediment from the suspension unless stirred. Two methods for stirring the syringe are using specially designed syringe pumps or manual agitation. Manual agitation is time consuming while the specialty pumps are both expensive and difficult to implement with already established experimental setups. To solve this issue, a device was designed to work with conventional syringe pumps that automatically stirs a syringe’s contents. The current design involves the use of a lead screw to translate a stage mechanism with a magnet attached, allowing for fully automated colloid resuspension over the duration of syringe pump perfusion. The goal of the project was to create a device that worked in tandem with a conventional syringe pump, stirring the contents of the loaded syringe with minimal user input. The device is designed to be placed over the syringe at the end of the pump where the lead screw extends parallel to the syringe. The stage has an adjustable arm with a magnet seated within it that will hook underneath the syringe and engage the stir bar inside said syringe during translation. To test the efficacy of the device, the perfused volume will be checked for a consistent cell density via counts using a hemocytometer. These counts will be done hourly for the duration of the perfusion. Once the data is collected, it will be statistically assessed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) to be in the range of ±5% expected cell density. This device enables researchers to enhance their productivity by creating a versatile and automatic method for maintaining cell suspension.