Decision Analysis of Large-scale Production of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Primary Chondrocyte Cells

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most serious ailments among 200 forms of joint problems. Nonetheless, conventional treatments do not completely relieve the symptoms. As a result, regenerative medicine is an attractive alternative treatment of OA. At present, chondrocyte cells and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) are used in this cell-based therapy. Therefore, it is crucial to manufacture these two cell types in large scale. For this reason, an automated cell processing system has been proposed. To utilize this system efficiently, the maximum number of samples using 2, 3, and 4 incubators must be determined. Simulation results show that the maximum numbers of samples that can be produced in a year for 2 and 3 incubators are 25 and 33 respectively. As for 4 incubators, the maximum number of samples is also 33 which indicates that adding the fourth incubator will not be beneficial to the cell production.