Simultaneous automated and continuous monitoring of glucose and lactate in cell cultures

C-CIT Sensors launches its innovative and easy-to-handle single-use wireless bi-parametric metabolic monitoring system.

The measurement of critical process parameters (CPP) such as glucose and lactate is key to the understanding, development and control of bioprocesses of different kinds. Most labs today rely on frequent sampling and off-line analytics in order to follow the dynamics of a cell culture’s growth and metabolic status. These procedures are often manually conducted resulting in error-prone and risky data acquisition and processing. Many of them consume valuable and significant amounts of cell culture volume (and product) over the complete process time and require high upfront investment for instrumentation.

CITSens MeMo is an electrochemical, enzyme-based sensor with the capacity to be used in defined cell culture media and blood.

The continuous online/in-situ measurement of glucose and lactate as offered by CITSens MeMo adds value to cell line, media and process development projects within the cell bioresearch and biopharma community. The sensor system is unique and delivers real-time information on a culture’s growth behaviour and metabolic state at any given time. Data is being generated at a 20-second frequency and continuously sent to a database via wireless communication out of a closed incubator. Using a smartphone, a round-the-clock observation of your cell culture is here. Through straightforward OPC server connectivity, process control based on the online measured kinetics of glucose consumption and/or lactate generation has become reality.

The benefits are evident: Easy and fast learning about a cell culture’s metabolic behaviour under a given condition and straightforward process development at lowest investment and running cost, no risk of contamination, in-time information and automation, better science and engineering.

The single-use sensor comes as a standard product (a reactor probe containing a PG13.5 thread or as a flow cell sensor) or can be custom-manufactured as a cap sensor fitting any of the widely used brands of different cell culture vessels (T-flask, shake flask, roller bottle).

The product will be exhibited at booth 1732 during the BioProcess International Conference & Exhibition in the Hynes Convention Center, from 4-7 September 2018 and is available for beta testing as of 4 September 2018.