# Acoustic Scaffold Bioreactor

> **NIH NIH R44** · RESODYN CORPORATION · 2020 · $514,049

## Abstract

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project will develop a
commercially-viable device that uses micro-scale acoustic streaming (low frequency
sound energy) to deliver mixing to the interior of three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds used
for stem cell cultivation applications. The enabling advantage of low frequency sound
energy is the ability to generate micro-scale mixing in and around scaffolds that can
enhance the movement of liquid, molecules, and oxygen within scaffolds without the
need for pumps or a costly and inconvenient perfusion apparatus for each scaffold.
Preliminary data shows that cells can successfully grow in the presence of the acoustic
energy field.
 Nutrient supply issues and difficulties in homogenously seeding dense scaffolds
are issues that need to be overcome in order to successfully produce high quality,
repeatable cell cultures in the complex 3D environments that are the mainstay of modern
stem cell and tissue engineering. Many possible solutions to these problems have been
examined, including the use of spinner flask, centrifugal, vacuum fixtures, or perfusion
for cell seeding. The vision for the approach proposed here is to develop a single
bioreactor platform on which multiple scaffolds can be mounted in simple fixtures to
deliver similar benefits as those derived from complex perfusion bioreactors but without
the significant time and capital investment inherent in such an approach. When used at
low intensities, the proposed device should be able to deliver benefits similar to a
perfusion bioreactor, but in a much simpler package. When used at higher intensities in
the absence of cells, additional applications and benefits of the proposed product will be
delivered in the form of much more rapid methods for the hydration, functionalization,
and enzymatic degradation of scaffolds.
 The goal of this research proposal is to build a commercial prototype Acoustic
Scaffold Bioreactor device and to extensively characterize and optimize its use for
scaffold-based hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cell culture systems. The
commercial applications of the device will be broad within the field of stem cell and
tissue engineering, extending to the full range of cells and tissues that have shown to be
enhanced by more cumbersome perfusion flow-based systems, as well as to basic
operations such as hydrating, functionalizing, and digesting scaffolds.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9999013
- **Project number:** 5R44HL136046-03
- **Recipient organization:** RESODYN CORPORATION
- **Principal Investigator:** TODD A MCADAMS
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $514,049
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-05-08 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9999013

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9999013, Acoustic Scaffold Bioreactor (5R44HL136046-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9999013. Licensed CC0.

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