Using hollow fiber to model treatment of antimicrobial-resistant organisms

The use of animal models is still widespread in science but there is a movement away from this manner of experimentation. One option approved by the FDA for human-like studies is the hollow fiber bioreactor (HFS). HFSs are highly controllable, self-contained systems that allow for the modeling of individual tissues and disease phenotypes. Oxygen, drug concentration & half-life, and immune cell invasion are all scalable to human and veterinary conditions using a HFS. There are drawbacks to the systems including cost and contamination so the use of these systems must be carefully managed.With these limitations in mind, the scope of the technology is great. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is possible with greater accuracy and clinical validity than classical in vitro techniques making minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) data generated on the bench more translatable to the clinic.In this chapter, we will outline the background of the HFS and some typical uses.