P2: A Novel In-Situ Optical Sensor for Rapid Infection Detection in Bioreactors

Monday, October 29, 2012
Greg Emmerson1, Sam Watts1 and George Barringer2, (1)Stratophase Ltd, Romsey, United Kingdom, (2)Stratophase Ltd (USA), W Groton, MA
A new in-situ, real time, solid state, miniature optical sensor is described that has been developed for monitoring and control applications in bioprocesses.  The sensor has application for early microbial infection detection in fermenters and cell culture bioreactors.  The sensor is applicable to all scales of operation from process development to commercial production, is compatible with SUBs, and has been demonstrated in microbial, fungal, and mammalian cultures.  The technology will be described and applications shown where the sensor has detected the onset of infection in an operating reactor before detection by typical monitoring methods.