Bioreactors in Medical and Biotechnological Processes: A Scientometric Review

Automated cell-culture bioreactors-systems integrating monitoring and control to cultivate mammalian or microbial cells-are increasingly central to bioprocess engineering, particularly for biomanufacturing and advanced therapies. Despite rapid growth, research on automated bioreactors for cell culture remains fragmented across disciplines, and a consolidated scientometric understanding of its intellectual structure and emerging research fronts is still limited. This study maps the field using records retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus (2003-June 9, 2024). After cross-database harmonization and deduplication, the final dataset comprised 525 unique publications. We analyzed publication and citation trends, country/journal/author contributions, and collaboration and citation networks; the intellectual structure was synthesized through the Tree of Science (ToS) framework using the SAP algorithm. The ToS synthesis identifies three dominant research fronts: (i) automation-enabled microbial bioprocessing and adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE), (ii) automated cell-culture bioreactors for therapeutic manufacturing-particularly mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) and chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) workflows-and (iii) high-throughput and intensified biomanufacturing platforms (e.g., micro/mini-bioreactors, sensor integration, perfusion/continuous concepts, and modular automation). The USA leads production (155 articles; 4862 citations; 82 in Q1), followed by Germany (96 articles; 2706 citations; 52 in Q1). At the source level, Biotechnology and Bioengineering is the most prolific journal (50 papers; Q2; H-index 213), while author-level results highlight recurrent contributions from leading researchers (e.g., Friedrich Srienc: 10 papers; H-index 10). Overall, this mapping provides a data-driven baseline to support strategic decisions in automated cell-culture bioreactor research, highlighting priorities for AI-enabled control, scalable closed systems, and sustainability-oriented bioprocess design.