Separation, dissociation and/or disaggregation of cells using shockwaves or mechanical impacts

Inventors

CHI, John • Chi, Ben-Chen

Assignees

Synova Life Sciences Inc

Abstract

Methods provided by the present disclosure utilize extracorporeal shockwaves, mechanical impacts and/or principles of lithotripsy to break up a tissue sample into smaller fragments—clusters of cells and/or single cells—after which a desired cellular fraction can be isolated from the sample. Devices provided by the present disclosure deploy focused and/or directed shockwaves, and/or focused and directed mechanical impacts, to break apart a tissue sample. The devices maintain the sample in a sterile, closed environment during exposure to the shockwaves or mechanical impacts. Therefore, the shockwaves and/or mechanical impacts are generated outside of a closed device and are transmitted through one or more walls of the device into its interior, where the sample is located.

Core Innovation

The invention relates to extracorporeal shockwaves and mechanical impacts for processing tissue samples to fragment tissue into cell clusters and/or single cells. A key aspect is that the shockwave and/or impact generator is kept outside a closed sterile container, while energy is transmitted through container walls to an inside tissue-processing environment. This enables separation of stem cells from the adipose tissue while maintaining a closed sterile configuration.

The disclosed device includes a processing container for containing raw adipose tissue attached to a platform, and an impact arm driven by a variable speed motor. The impact arm articulates up and down at a controlled rate, making physical contact with the processing container, and the resulting mechanical impacts are imparted to an outside surface of the processing container to break down raw adipose tissue and separate stem cells from the adipose tissue. The motor controls impact contact speed and includes gearing capable of reducing the speed of the impact arm.

The document further describes processing workflows and device embodiments that support isolating cellular fractions from adipose tissue, including optional washing, separation into an aqueous layer and a fatty layer, filtration, and centrifugation within defined ranges. The disclosed approaches are contrasted with enzymatic digestion (e.g., collagenase digestion) for yield performance, with examples comparing nucleated cell and mesenchymal stem cell yield and ratios under shockwave versus collagenase digestion.

Claims Coverage

The partial content includes one independent claim, plus multiple dependent claims that refine the same core device concept and associated tissue-processing method. Across the independent and dependent claims, the inventive features focus on motor-driven impact-arm articulation, energy transfer through a processing container, and controlled separation of stem cell fractions from raw adipose tissue.

Overall, the claims coverage centers on a tissue processing device that uses a motor-driven up-and-down impact arm making contact with a processing container to impart mechanical impacts through the container surface, thereby breaking down raw adipose tissue and separating stem cells, with speed control and gearing to reduce impact-arm speed.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications