Non-Invasive Sensor Controlled Cell Cultivation Based on Microbioreactors with Integrated Optodes

In modern biotechnology small volume parallel cultivation is the trend. It includes microbial cultivation but also the growth of mammalian cells and tissues. Whereas conventional bioreactors are generally eqipped with oxygen and pH electrodes, there is a lack of measuring techniques allowing the simultaneous control of important cultivation parameters in small volume (greater 10ml) microbioreactors. Optical chemosensors allows the contactless (and therefore contamination free) monitoring of pH, carbon dioxide and oxygen in extremely small cultivation vials and are the ideal tool. Based on frequency domain luminescence techniques a set of calibration free pH-, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and temperature optodes is developed and can be integrated in standard plastic cultivation vessels. In this way disposible sensor equipped microtiterplates, cell cultivation petri- and multiwell dishes were realised and characterised. In addition small and inexpensive multichannel measuring systems have been developed.