Patent ID: 8748166

Claim:
A system for forming and maintaining a biological tissue which system forms and maintains the biological tissue by immersing a cell holder in a liquid cell culture medium and culturing a cell of the biological tissue, the cell holder forming a space portion and having a base with the cell attached thereto, the system comprising: a pulse pump configured to apply a pulsatile flow to the liquid cell culture medium, a circulation pathway having a circuit configuration in which the liquid cell culture medium ejected from the pulse pump returns to the pulse pump, and a cell culture container and a gas exchanger both provided along the circulation pathway, wherein the circulation pathway includes a compliance amplitude adjustor configured to adjust amplitude on a pressure on the liquid cell culture medium, and a resistance applier located downstream of the compliance amplitude adjustor configured to apply resistance to a flow of the liquid cell culture medium to adjust an average pulse pressure on the liquid cell culture medium, and the cell culture container is configured to hold the cell holder such as to form a first channel along which the liquid cell culture medium flowing through the circulation pathway passes through a space portion of the cell holder and returns into the circulation pathway and a second channel along which the liquid cell culture medium flowing through the circulation pathway passes outside the cell holder and returns into the circulation pathway, and the cell culture container is configured to maintain a difference in pressure between the liquid cell culture medium flowing through the first channel and the liquid cell culture medium flowing through the second channel, the gas exchanger is configured to supply mixed gas containing oxygen and carbon dioxide to the liquid cell culture medium circulating through the circulation pathway to adjust a pH value of the liquid cell culture medium to a definite level, wherein the cell culture container comprises a container main body with an internal space formed therein and a first open pathway, a second open pathway, a third open pathway, and a fourth open pathway which are open from the internal space toward outside, the first and second open pathways communicate with the space portion of the cell holder to form the first channel, and the third and fourth open pathways communicate with a portion of the internal space located outside the cell holder to form the second channel that is connected to a bypass pathway configured to bypass an area of the circulation pathway located downstream of the resistance applier such that the third and fourth open pathways utilize a change in pressure in the circulation pathway to maintain a difference in pressure between the liquid cell culture medium flowing through the first channel and the liquid cell culture medium flowing through the second channel.