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Current oxygen and carbon dioxide sensors mostly provide qualitative information. The biggest drawback of qualitative data is that it is stand-alone data which relies on large reference databases for interpretation. This data cannot be used to close mass balances. Instead of relative information on biological processes, employing mass spectrometry enables the collection of absolute system data. This data can be used off the bat to calculate in absolute values what is going on in the bioreactor.
Looking at system mass balances allows for a holistic approach to the cultivation system. It allows investigating growth profiles without absolute knowledge on the type and the state of the cells within the system. You can approach any cultivation as a black box and determine its functionality.
When characterizing a complete system instead of single process parameters, you create an overview of the whole process. With this overview, you can focus on understanding the biological processes that play key roles in your production process. Knowing which processes affect the cultivation enables making forward manufacturing decisions. The data that VitaScope produces on your process even gives you the option to move your process to dynamic cultivation conditions in which the process is adjusted in real-time to small fluctuations in biological processes.
Several innovative bioreactor monitoring technologies are becoming more mainstream. Raman spectroscopy is very promising, but currently cannot match the sensitivity nor the selectivity that is offered through mass spectrometry based respiration analysis. Capacitance sensors as well as Raman spectroscopy are not quantitative to a degree that is needed to measure the small differences that indicate cell behaviour. When these technologies mature further or offer unique benefits to a specific process, VitaScope can incorporate the data they produce into the software model.
Instead of using mass spectrometry, alternatives like online DO probes or inline oxygen and carbon dioxide sensors are available. These technologies however do not provide the quantitative sensitivity that is required for mapping cell behaviour. Moreover, one MS system can be used to meaures more that 10 gas streams, providing support for measuring inlet gas composition and multiple bioreactors with one analytical system.
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