JP2019162045A - Control system of cell growth device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a cell growth system capable of achieving cell cultivation in a large amount while suppressing human cost to minimum level.SOLUTION: A cell growth system comprises: cell growth units 10 comprising an incubator 14 which can store a cell culture vessel; and a controller 20 for controlling the cell growth units 10. The plurality of cell growth units 10 comprise respectively, an operation reception part 12 for receiving an operation of the user, the cell growth units 10 can be controlled based on an operation of the user received on the operation reception part 12, and can be controlled based on a signal sent from the controller 20. The cell growth units 10 namely, can be controlled in a stand alone method using the operation reception part 12, and also can be controlled by a centralized control system by the controller 20.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a control system for a cell growth device.

  In recent years, research on regenerative medicine and cell therapy for treating diseases by transplanting adult stem cells has been actively conducted. In order to perform such treatment, methods for culturing and adjusting adult stem cells in tissues collected from patients have been widely studied. By culturing the cells, it is possible to amplify the number of stem cells that are extremely low in the tissue to the number necessary for treatment.

  At present, such cell culture devices are only registered with physics and chemistry equipment, and there are no medical equipments. Therefore, use and management by a doctor are necessary, and a person other than a doctor cannot handle. In this regard, if it is certified as an advanced medical management device (regenerative medical incubator) under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law by clearing strict safety and ensuring aseptic conditions, use by a doctor is not necessarily required. In other words, if a cell culture device certified as a medical device can be provided, regenerative medicine using the cell culture device can be remarkably spread.

  With regard to such a technique, for example, Patent Literature 1 discloses an incubator having a thermostatic chamber for accommodating a cell culture container therein, and an automatic apparatus for cell culture including a computer control system. In this cell culture apparatus, the temperature of the cell culture container during the cell culture period is controlled to be kept constant.

JP-T-2015-513347

  By the way, when the above-described cell culture apparatus is used for regenerative medicine, management by a doctor is necessary, and an operator who actually operates the apparatus also requires specialized knowledge and skilled skills. For this reason, there existed a problem that operation of cell culture became difficult by lack of human resources, and a problem that the cost for securing human resources increased.

  In particular, when a plurality of apparatuses are to be introduced, an operator must be provided for each apparatus, and management by a doctor is also individually handled, so a shortage of human resources has become a major problem.

Moreover, human error is unavoidable because human beings perform such operations and management, but in order to reduce accidents due to human error, it is necessary to increase the number of people, and there is also a problem in this respect.
Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide a cell growth system that can realize a large amount of cell culture while minimizing human costs.
Moreover, this invention makes it the 2nd subject to provide the cell growth system which can manage a human error appropriately, suppressing human cost to the minimum.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problem, and includes a plurality of cell growth units including an incubator that can accommodate a cell culture container, and a control device that controls the cell growth unit. The plurality of cell proliferation units each include an operation receiving unit that receives a user operation, the cell proliferation unit is controllable based on a user operation received by the operation receiving unit, and from the control device Control is also possible based on the transmitted signal.

  The present invention is as described above, and includes a cell proliferation unit including an incubator capable of accommodating a cell culture container, and a control device that controls the cell proliferation unit, and the plurality of cell proliferation units receive user operations. Each of the operation receiving units is provided, and the cell proliferation unit can be controlled based on a user operation received by the operation receiving unit, and can also be controlled based on a signal transmitted from the control device. That is, the cell proliferation unit can be controlled in a stand-alone manner using the operation accepting unit, but can also be controlled in a centralized management manner by the control device. Therefore, it is possible to switch between using a stand-alone system when using one unit and operating with a centralized management system when using multiple units. According to such a configuration, even when a plurality of cell growth units are used in parallel, these can be controlled by a single control device, so it is necessary to provide an administrator or an operator for each cell growth unit. In addition, the number of managers and operators can be reduced. Therefore, a large amount of cell culture can be realized while minimizing human costs.

  In addition, since the cell growth unit can be remotely operated by the control device, the control can be performed without a person approaching the sterilization area where the cell growth unit is arranged. Therefore, the aseptic state of the sterilization area can be maintained, and the influence of the sterilization gas on the human body can be suppressed. That is, since a sterile condition can be maintained and safety can be ensured, a cell culture device that can be certified as a medical device can be provided.

  In addition, at least one of the plurality of cell proliferation units and the control device may be connected to the Internet and may include a transmission unit that transmits the states of the plurality of cell proliferation units via the Internet. For example, the transmission unit may transmit a message via the Internet to a predetermined server registered in advance when an error occurs in any of the plurality of cell proliferation units. According to such a configuration, when an error occurs, a message can be transmitted to the outside, so that an error can be notified to an external administrator who is not near the cell growth device. Therefore, accidents due to oversight of errors can be prevented, and human errors can be appropriately managed while minimizing human costs.

  The server may be configured to be able to control a plurality of cell proliferation units via the Internet. According to such a configuration, for example, when an error occurs, an appropriate treatment can be performed without being near the cell growth device, so that the influence of the error can be minimized.

It is a functional block diagram of a cell growth system. It is a block diagram which shows the connection state of a cell growth system.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The cell proliferation system according to the present embodiment is a system that manages the culture of cells (specimens) collected from a patient, for example. The cultured cells can be transplanted into a patient for cell therapy. This cell proliferation system can be applied to, for example, a system for producing stem cells from blood cells and a system for producing stem cells from other somatic cells. In this embodiment, an example in which the system is used for cell proliferation for therapeutic purposes will be described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present system can be used for culturing any cell.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, this cell proliferation system includes a cell proliferation unit 10 and a control device 20.

(Cell proliferation unit 10)
The cell growth unit 10 is a device that receives a sealed container (such as a test tube or a vial) storing somatic cells, automatically executes cell culture, and then discharges the cultured cells in the sealed container. Since the cell proliferation system according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of cell proliferation units 10, it is possible to simultaneously proliferate cells of a plurality of users. The plurality of cell proliferation units 10 are provided in separate housings, and are configured to be separated from each other.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cell growth unit 10 includes a management unit 11, an operation receiving unit 12, a communication control unit 13, an incubator 14, a temperature adjusting device 15, a temperature sensor 16, a monitor 17, It has. Needless to say, the configuration of the cell growth unit 10 is not limited to this, and may include other configurations.

  The management unit 11 includes a computer and controls the operation of the cell growth unit 10. By providing this management unit 11, each cell proliferation unit 10 includes an independent CPU and an independent operating system. For this reason, each cell proliferation unit 10 is disconnected from the control apparatus 20 mentioned later, and can operate | move stand-alone.

  The operation receiving unit 12 is an input device that receives an operation from a user. The operation receiving unit 12 includes, for example, an input device (one or more) such as a liquid crystal touch panel, a keyboard, a mouse, a button, and a barcode reader. When the operation receiving unit 12 receives an operation from the user, the management unit 11 controls the operation of the cell proliferation unit 10 according to the operation content.

  The communication control unit 13 is for controlling communication with the control device 20 described later. The communication control unit 13 according to the present embodiment is configured to be connected to a network using, for example, Ethernet (registered trademark). In the present embodiment, the cell proliferation unit 10 is connected to a LAN (local area network) using the communication control unit 13. The cell proliferation unit 10 according to the present embodiment is connected to the control device 20 via a LAN so that commands from the control device 20 connected to the same LAN can be received and messages can be transmitted to the control device 20. It is configured. When the communication control unit 13 receives a command transmitted from the control device 20, the cell proliferation unit 10 is controlled based on this command.

  The incubator 14 is an apparatus configured to accommodate a cell culture container in an internal sealed space. In the present embodiment, cells to be cultured are sealed in a cell culture container, and the cell culture container is placed in the incubator 14 to culture the cells. The incubator 14 is provided with a device such as a temperature control device 15 to be described later, so that the temperature and pH of the medium in the cell culture container are controlled, and a state suitable for cell growth is maintained. It has become so.

  In addition, although what is used as a cell culture container is not specifically limited, For example, culture tanks, such as a bottle and a bioreactor, a gas-permeable bag, a flask, a petri dish etc. can be used. Inside the incubator 14 is provided a tray or the like that can hold the cell culture container.

  The temperature adjustment device 15 is a device that automatically performs heating or cooling so as to keep the temperature in the incubator 14 constant. The temperature adjusting device 15 is an electric type, and an output current is controlled in conjunction with a temperature detected by a temperature sensor 16 described later. Thereby, the temperature in the incubator 14 (the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 16) is controlled to be the target temperature.

  The temperature sensor 16 is disposed in the incubator 14 and detects the temperature in the incubator 14. The detection result of the temperature sensor 16 is used for feedback control and error monitoring control of the temperature adjustment device 15. Specifically, the management unit 11 monitors the detection result of the temperature sensor 16, and the temperature in the incubator 14 is kept constant by controlling the output of the temperature adjusting device 15 according to the detection result. It is like that.

  The management unit 11 according to the present embodiment is configured to store the upper limit temperature and the lower limit temperature in the incubator 14 by an administrator setting in advance. And when the temperature which the temperature sensor 16 detected becomes more than upper limit temperature, or when it becomes below lower limit temperature, it is comprised so that temperature abnormality may be detected. As will be described in detail later, when the management unit 11 detects an abnormality in temperature, a warning message notifying the occurrence of an error is created and transmitted to the server 28.

  The monitor 17 is for displaying data relating to the state of the incubator 14 and the cell culture container. The monitor 17 can be composed of a liquid crystal screen, a lamp, and the like, and can display information such as the temperature in the incubator 14, the elapsed time from the start of culture, the number of cells in the cell culture container, and the like. The user can confirm the progress of the culture work by referring to the information displayed on the monitor 17.

(Control device 20)
Next, the control device 20 will be described. The control device 20 is for controlling the cell growth unit 10 described above. The control device 20 includes a CPU independent of the cell growth unit 10 and an operating system independent of the CPU, and is a terminal such as a personal computer in the present embodiment. The control device 20 is connected to a LAN and can control a single or a plurality of cell growth units 10 connected to the same LAN.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the control device 20 includes a registration unit 21, an input unit 22, a control signal output unit 23, a display unit 24, a transmission unit 25, a reception unit 26, and the like when the CPU executes various programs. It functions as each means. Needless to say, the configuration of the control device 20 is not limited to this, and may include other configurations.

  The registration means 21 is for registering the cell proliferation unit 10 to be controlled. The registration unit 21 can register the cell growth unit 10 as a control target of the control device 20 when the user explicitly specifies the cell growth unit 10 connected to the same LAN.

  As a method for registering the cell growth unit 10, the registration means 21 may search for the cell growth unit 10 connected to the LAN. For example, when the user requests a search for the cell growth unit 10, the registration unit 21 may search the LAN and list the cell growth unit 10. Then, by selecting the cell growth unit 10 to be registered from the cell growth units 10 listed as the search result, the cell growth unit 10 can be registered as a control target of the control device 20. Good.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, by registering a plurality of cell growth units 10 in the control device 20, the plurality of cell growth units 10 are connected to the control device 20 in an array to form one system. It can be operated. The cell proliferation unit 10 registered in the control device 20 is given a unique identifier in the system at the time of registration. Thereby, each cell proliferation unit 10 in the system is identified by this identifier.

  The input unit 22 is an input device such as a liquid crystal touch panel, a keyboard, and a mouse connected to the terminal. This input means 22 is used by an administrator who operates the control device 20. For example, it is used for inputting a command to be transmitted to the cell proliferation unit 10 by the administrator.

  The control signal output means 23 is for transmitting a command to the cell proliferation unit 10 connected to the same LAN. That is, when a command is input by the administrator using the input means 22 described above, the command is transmitted to the cell growth unit 10. For example, when the administrator designates a specific cell growth unit 10 and inputs a command to stop the culture operation, the command is transmitted to the specific cell growth unit 10 by the control signal output means 23. And the specific cell growth unit 10 which received the command will perform the operation | movement (stop of culture | cultivation work) according to the said command.

  The display means 24 is for displaying a video signal output from the CPU of the control device 20. In this embodiment, it is a display of a terminal. The administrator can monitor the operation of the cell growth unit 10 and input a control command while confirming the contents displayed on the display means 24.

  The transmission means 25 is for transmitting a message via the Internet. For example, when an error occurs, the transmission unit 25 transmits a message to the predetermined server 28 registered in advance via the Internet.

The receiving means 26 is for receiving a message via the Internet. For example, the receiving unit 26 receives a message from a predetermined server 28 registered in advance, and executes control according to the received message.
(Cell proliferation procedure)
Cell proliferation using the cell proliferation system according to the present embodiment is executed in the following procedure.
First, a tissue is collected from a patient by a doctor, thereby obtaining cells to be cultured. The cells are stored in a sealed container.

  Then, the person in charge of the culture operation activates the cell growth unit 10 and inputs a command to start culture. At this time, the operator may input parameters necessary for culture. For example, a patient identification number, information (volume) on the cell culture container, and the like may be input. In order to facilitate the input of these parameters, a barcode may be attached to a sealed container or a cell culture container. By reading this barcode with a barcode reader provided in the cell growth unit 10, parameters can be easily input.

  When the cell growth unit 10 receives the culture start command, the management unit 11 checks the available space in the incubator 14. When it is determined that there is sufficient space, a pass box for delivering a sealed container or a cell culture container to the cell growth unit 10 is activated. The worker in charge puts the sealed container and the cell culture container into the pass box. The cell growth unit 10 automatically pulls back the pass box, thereby taking the sealed container and the cell culture container into the cell growth unit 10. The sealed container and the cell culture container taken into the inside are appropriately processed by the robot arm, and the culture is started.

  At this time, the cell proliferation unit 10 may notify the worker in charge of replenishment of various consumables. For example, the operator may be notified to put a container filled with a culture medium, a container filled with a growth factor, and the like into the pass box. And you may make it wait for the start of culture | cultivation until a required consumable is provided.

  When the necessary preparation is completed, the cell growth unit 10 places the cell culture container in the incubator 14. Then, fluid and cells are supplied to the cell culture container. Specifically, a predetermined amount of culture medium or growth factor is supplied to the cell culture container via a tube. Thereafter, the cells contained in the sealed container are supplied to the cell culture container.

  The cell culture container supplied with cells in this way is stored in the incubator 14 until a set culture period (for example, several days) elapses. In the incubator 14, cell growth proceeds by maintaining the cell culture container at a constant temperature.

When the culture period has elapsed and the cells necessary for treatment are ready, the cell growth unit 10 notifies the operator in charge of the completion of the culture. When the worker who receives the notification requests the cell growth unit 10 to receive cells, the cell growth unit 10 takes out the cell culture container from the incubator 14 and loads the cells in the cell culture container into the syringe. This syringe is discharged to the outside of the cell growth unit 10 through a pass box.
The cells thus collected are used by being injected into a patient's body, for example, for cell therapy.

  In the present embodiment, since there are a plurality of cell growth units 10, separate cell cultures may be performed in the plurality of cell growth units 10. Further, a plurality of cell culture containers may be accommodated in the incubator 14, and separate cell cultures may be performed in these cell culture containers. The separate cells may be collected from the same patient or may be collected from different patients.

(About network configuration)
As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 20 and the cell proliferation unit 10 are connected to each other using a LAN. It does not matter whether the LAN connection method is wired connection or wireless connection. Further, the communication between the control device 20 and the cell growth unit 10 is encrypted and protected from unauthorized access.

  Each cell growth unit 10 is connected to a common control device 20. The control device 20 can output a control command to each cell growth unit 10 and can receive a response from each cell growth unit 10. For this reason, all the cell growth units 10 in the system can be centrally managed by one control device 20.

  On the other hand, the control device 20 and each cell proliferation unit 10 are each provided with an independent CPU and an independent operating system. Therefore, the cell growth unit 10 can continue to operate as a stand-alone machine even when it is disconnected from the control device 20. For example, even if a failure occurs in the network connecting the control device 20 and each cell growth unit 10, the cell growth unit 10 can be disconnected from the control device 20 and continue to operate as a stand-alone machine. When the network connection is restored, the cell proliferation unit 10 is automatically reconnected to the system, and the control of the cell proliferation unit 10 by the control device 20 is resumed.

  Note that the cell proliferation unit 10 to be controlled by the control device 20 is limited to the cell proliferation unit 10 registered by the registration means 21. For this reason, it is also possible to provide a cell growth unit 10 that is disconnected from the control device 20 and operates stand-alone despite being arranged in the same LAN as the cell growth unit 10 shown in FIG. It is.

  Further, the registration means 21 can not only register the cell proliferation unit 10 but also cancel the registration of the cell proliferation unit 10. For this reason, even if the cell growth unit 10 has already been registered by the registration means 21, the cell growth unit 10 can be controlled stand-alone by explicitly canceling the registration from the registration means 21.

  If the control device 20 and the cell proliferation unit 10 constituting these systems are connected by a LAN, no other physical connection is required. For this reason, the cell growth unit 10 can be arranged in different rooms on the same floor, different floors of the same building, or can be arranged in different rooms of different buildings. Moreover, the control apparatus 20 can be arrange | positioned adjacent to any cell growth unit 10 in a system, and can also be arrange | positioned in the position away from the cell growth unit 10 using LAN.

(About server 28)
The system according to the present embodiment can remotely manage the system via the Internet by registering the server 28 outside the LAN in the control device 20. In addition, as the server 28 registered in the control device 20, for example, a server of a company that provides the system, a user terminal, or the like can be considered.
Specifically, the control device 20 and the cell proliferation unit 10 according to the present embodiment are connected to the Internet.

  In addition, the control device 20 according to the present embodiment includes a transmission unit 25 that transmits the state of the cell growth unit 10 via the Internet. The transmission means 25 can transmit a message to the server 28 using e-mail or a dedicated application, for example. By using this transmission means 25, for example, the status of cell culture can be periodically reported, or a warning message can be transmitted when an error occurs in any of the cell growth units 10.

  The error of the cell growth unit 10 occurs when, for example, the control device 20 detects a temperature abnormality in the incubator 14. When the cell growth unit 10 finds an abnormality in the state of the incubator 14 or the cell culture container, the cell growth unit 10 creates a warning message including information (such as the cell culture container ID and the cell provider ID) that can identify the cell culture container. Then, a message is transmitted to the server 28 via the control device 20. When the server 28 receives the message, an external person can be notified of the occurrence of the error. In addition, when an error occurs in this way, the cell proliferation unit 10 may automatically execute a process of interrupting the culture process.

  The server 28 may be able to control the cell growth unit 10 via the Internet. For example, from the authenticated server 28, a predetermined command such as stopping the cell growth unit 10 may be transmitted. Alternatively, a predetermined command such as stopping the cell growth unit 10 may be transmitted only when an error occurs. The command transmitted from the server 28 is received by the receiving means 26 of the control device 20 and transmitted to the cell proliferation unit 10. Thereby, you may enable it to operate the cell growth unit 10 remotely.

  For example, when an error occurs and the cell growth unit 10 automatically interrupts the culture process, a command for executing cell culture re-execution may be transmitted from the server 28. Then, the cell proliferation unit 10 that has received a command for performing cell culture re-execution may be configured to automatically replace the culture medium and cells and perform cell culture re-execution. In this way, even when an error occurs and the culture process is interrupted, the culture process can be resumed early by remote operation.

  In this embodiment, the control device 20 includes the transmission unit 25 and the reception unit 26. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the cell growth unit 10 may include the transmission unit 25 and the reception unit 26. Good. That is, the cell proliferation unit 10 may be able to communicate with the server 28 via the Internet without using the control device 20.

(Summary)
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the cell growth unit 10 including the incubator 14 that can accommodate the cell culture container and the control device 20 that controls the cell growth unit 10 are provided, and a plurality of cell growths are provided. The unit 10 includes an operation receiving unit 12 that receives a user operation. The cell proliferation unit 10 can be controlled based on the user operation received by the operation receiving unit 12 and is transmitted from the control device 20. Control is also possible based on the signal. That is, the cell growth unit 10 can be controlled by the stand-alone method using the operation receiving unit 12, but can also be controlled by the control device 20 by the centralized management method. Therefore, it is possible to switch between using a stand-alone system when using one unit and operating with a centralized management system when using multiple units. According to such a configuration, even when a plurality of cell growth units 10 are used in parallel, these can be controlled by one control device 20, so that an administrator or an operator can be provided for each cell growth unit 10. There is no need to provide it, and the number of managers and operators can be reduced. Therefore, a large amount of cell culture can be realized while minimizing human costs.

  In addition, at least one of the plurality of cell growth units 10 and the control device 20 is connected to the Internet, and includes transmission means 25 that transmits the state of the plurality of cell growth units 10 via the Internet. The transmission means 25 is configured to transmit a message via the Internet to a predetermined server 28 registered in advance when an error occurs in any of the plurality of cell proliferation units 10. According to such a configuration, when an error occurs, a message can be transmitted to the outside, so that an error can be notified to an external administrator who is not near the cell growth device. Therefore, accidents due to oversight of errors can be prevented, and human errors can be appropriately managed while minimizing human costs.

  The server 28 is configured to be able to control a plurality of cell proliferation units 10 via the Internet. According to such a configuration, for example, when an error occurs, an appropriate treatment can be performed without being near the cell growth device, so that the influence of the error can be minimized.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Cell proliferation unit 11 Management part 12 Operation reception part 13 Communication control part 14 Incubator 15 Temperature control apparatus 16 Temperature sensor 17 Monitor 20 Control apparatus 21 Registration means 22 Input means 23 Control signal output means 24 Display means 25 Transmission means 26 Reception means 28 server

Claims (4)

A plurality of cell growth units equipped with incubators capable of accommodating cell culture vessels;
A control device for controlling the cell proliferation unit;
With
Each of the plurality of cell proliferation units includes an operation receiving unit that receives a user operation,
The cell growth unit can be controlled based on a user operation received by the operation receiving unit, and can also be controlled based on a signal transmitted from the control device. Equipment control system.   The at least one of the plurality of cell proliferation units and the control device is connected to the Internet, and further includes a transmission unit that transmits the states of the plurality of cell proliferation units via the Internet. A control system for the cell growth apparatus described.   The said transmission means transmits a message via the internet with respect to the predetermined | prescribed server registered beforehand, when an error generate | occur | produces in either of these cell proliferation units. Control system for cell growth device.   The control system for a cell proliferation device according to claim 3, wherein the server is capable of controlling the plurality of cell proliferation units via the Internet.

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