Bioreactor and bioprocessing technique

#1. Field of the Invention

#The present invention pertains to a bioreactor, more particularly, a low volume bioreactor (microbioreactor). Further, the present invention pertains to the use of noninvasive optical chemical sensors to measure multiple parameters in a bioprocessing system.

#2. Background of Related Art

#The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:

#FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a high throughput microbioprocessing system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, each well of a 96-well microtiter plate can be independently monitored for OD (optical density), pH and DO (dissolved oxygen) and independently controlled for pH and DO.

#FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a microbioreactor in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, at the left cuvette wall, a blue LED (light emitting diode) and an UV LED, together with a 530 nm photodetector, are used to measure pH; at the right cuvette wall, a blue LED and a 590 nm photodetector are used to measure DO; a red LED and a 600 nm photodetector are used to measure OD through the front and back walls. The air supply inlet and outlet are positioned at the corners of the cuvette.

#A key requirement for any bioprocess is the ability to measure and control process parameters. In addition, if one is culturing cells, another key requirement is the ability to supply chemicals such as nutrients, oxygen and pH correctors, to the culture. The present invention meets these requirements and overcomes the disadvantages of known bioprocessing techniques by using non-invasive optical chemical sensing technology (Bambot, S. B. et al., Biotechnol. Bioeng. 43: 1139-1145 (1994); Randers-Eichhorn, L. et al., Biotechnol. Bioeng. 55: 921-926 (1997); Xu, Z. et al., J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 39: 9-15 (1998)) to monitor, measure, control and/or adjust and thus, to optimize multiple bioprocess parameters in single and/or multiple bioreactors.

#The inventive bioprocessing system and technique removes a major bottleneck in bioprocess development and allows for much speedier and efficient optimization of bioprocesses such as fermentation. In addition, it could dramatically improve microbial isolation and cultivation of new species, as an enormous number of experimental conditions could be tested on a massively parallel scale.

#Bioprocessing System