Apparatuses and systems for preparing a meat product

Inventors

Leung, Matthew • Warner, Michelle • VANDERPOL, Ryan Edward • HSIU, Thomas Pei-Ja • CARSWELL, Kathleen

Assignees

Accenture LLP • Upside Foods Inc

Abstract

The apparatuses described herein relate to preparation of a meat product. Apparatuses, systems comprising the apparatuses, and methods of making and use the systems and apparatuses are described herein. These are useful for controlling one or more of growth on and separation of a meat product from an enclosed substrate. The apparatuses and systems are configured to receive fluid and grow the meat product and/or separate the meat product from the substrate in a scalable manner.

Core Innovation

The apparatuses and systems described herein are designed for the scalable preparation of a meat product by growing and separating cell-based meat sheets on one or more enclosed substrates. The apparatus typically includes an enclosure with a cavity, a substrate arranged within the cavity configured to support the growth of a meat product, a fluid diffuser for providing a controlled flow of fluid, and optional components such as separators and collectors to separate and collect the meat product.

Conventional apparatuses for cell culture are not optimized for sustained or large-scale growth of continuous cell sheets suitable for meat production, as they focus on recovering secreted products from cells in media rather than the cells themselves as the product. These existing devices are typically limited in size and employ complicated fluid paths, making them unsuitable for the efficient, scalable production of cell-based meat for consumption. Thus, there is a need for improved systems, apparatuses, and methods that address these shortcomings.

The innovation addresses these issues by enabling high-density and consistent growth of adherent cells on specifically angled substrates within the enclosure, which can be rolled, planar, spiral, or otherwise non-parallel and non-perpendicular relative to the enclosure’s axis or to the ground. Controlled fluid flow—delivered via a fluid diffuser and tailored for uniform and laminar distribution—promotes consistent cell growth, while integrated separators allow for the controlled detachment and recovery of continuous, contiguous meat sheets. The system allows for scalable operation, sterile processing, and the potential for reuse through sterilization.

Claims Coverage

There are three independent claims, each introducing a distinct inventive feature relating to the apparatus or substrate configuration for growing cell-based meat products.

The inventive features focus on the orientation and arrangement of the substrate within a cavity of an enclosure or relative to a ground surface to optimize growth of cell-based meat products.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications