[Untitled]

Experiments carried out with hepatocytes entrapped in alginate gel particles with a cell density of about 107 cells ml−1 showed an oxygen consumption rate of about 2.2×10−16 mol cell−1 s−1. Under these conditions, no inner anoxic core is present in 1.8 mm diameter beads. From these data, the maximum bead size consistent with non-critical O2 concentration at the bead center has been evaluated for different cell densities and O2 concentrations in the medium.