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Overview

The Dissolved Oxygen Sensor Pills and Nanoparticles facilitate simplified, automated, and online DO monitoring in shake flasks. Mount your shake flask on top of the Multiparameter Sensor and add the DO Pill or Nanoparticles into your culture to start monitoring.

Key Features

  • Automated, online DO monitoring in shake flasks
  • Novel, patented pill technology
    Unique pill identification algorithm removes the need for sensor spot alignment
  • Innovative nanoparticle approach to ensure compatibility with baffled flasks
  • Broad portfolio of different form factors for different flasks (glass, plastic, baffled) and applications (cell culture and microbial)

Benefits

  • Optimize your bioprocess in shake flasks by continuously monitoring DO
  • Drop & Go: Easy handling and fast setup
  • Use with any shake flask for reduced operating costs
  • Connect with the Liquid Injection System (LIS) for DO control in shake flasks with DO-based feeding

Compatible With Your...

Bioprocess
  • For a broad range of microorganisms (E. coli, yeast, etc...) and cell types (CHO, HEK)
  • For most media compositions
Lab Infrastructure
  • For different shake flask sizes
    • From 100 mL - 2000 mL
  • For baffled and non-baffled shake flasks
  • For different shake flask types
    • Glass (e.g., Nalgene), Plastic (e.g. Corning)
  • Compatible with every shaking incubator
    • Clamps and Sticky Mats

  • For a broad range of shaking speeds and filling volumes

Applications

  • Bioprocess characterization

  • Cell line/Strain development characterization and selection

  • Detect & avoid oxygen limitations

  • Collect critical process parameters for an informed upscaling process

  • Optimize process conditions with DO-based feeding

How It Works

The technique for optical DO monitoring is based on the principle of spectroscopy.

DO-sensor-pill-How-It-Works

Optical Sensing Setup

The DO Sensor is dropped into the shake flask which is then mounted on top of the MPS in the shaker. The pill is coated with a luminescent dye capable of detecting changes in dissolved oxygen (DO).

The sensor emits a red light (orange-red at a wavelength of 610-630 nm), exciting the chemosensors which show luminescence in the near-infrared region (NIR, 760-790 nm). Depending on the level of DO present in the solution, the amount of luminescence changes.

The MPS measures this phase shift and sends the data to the DOTS Software.

DO Sensing Principle

At low concentrations of DO, there is less collision between oxygen molecules and the indicator dye, allowing for a brighter emission of NIR light. As the oxygen concentration increases, the rate of collision also increases. This collision quenches the luminescence of the oxygen-sensitive indicator, reducing the intensity and affecting the phase shift of NIR emission.

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Application Data & Results

Explore applications in real-world situations. Looking for something specific? Contact us to see data for your culture and application.

Microbial

Growth Characterization & Metabolic Event Detection
Data Spotlight - Metabolic Event-1

Escherichia coli (E. coli), 200 rpm/25 mm, 10 % filling volume, 250 ml flask, 37°C, LB Medium

Dissolved Oxygen (DO) is considered a critical proces parameter in bioprocessing. Oxygen limitations cannot be seen directly and can only be detected through close monitoring. DOTS makes it possible to easily monitor DO in shake flasks in real time.

Cell Culture

Online Dissolved Oxygen Monitoring
CHO DP 12 Cell Culture

Inoculation: 0.32 million cells / mL, Corning flask, 250 mL, 24% filling volume (60 mL), 185 rpm, 25 mm

The DO Sensor pills, together with the MPS, allow for simultaneous measurement of biomass and dissolved oxygen (DO) in Corning flasks, producing well-correlated data curves to easily monitor DO in shake flasks in real time.

Microbial

Dissolved Oxygen-based Feeding
DO-based feeding with 40% methanol

With a DOTS-integrated controller, the methanol feed (carried out with the Liquid Injection System) was adjusted to start repeatedly, always when the DO level, monitored by DO Sensor Pills, reached a preset threshold. By using this feature, methanol was always fed as soon as the cells recovered from the previous shot, enabling ideal cell viability, while keeping promotor activity constant. Biomass was monitored additionally, with the Multiparameter Sensor (MPS).

Microbial

Baffled Flask Solution
P. pastoris Cultivation with DO Nanoparticles

DO Nanoparticles enable precise dissolved oxygen measurements in both baffled and non-baffled shake flasks. Furthermore, evaluation of different cultivation conditions (10% vs. 20% fill volume) demonstrates strategies for optimizing bioprocess performance and mitigating oxygen transfer limitations.

Want to see data for your organism/cell line or application?

We have tested over 100 organisms/cell lines for more than 50 different applications with our technology.

Speak With An Expert

 

Hardware & Software Components

Optical DO Sensor

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Single-use sensor with an integrated chemosensor for dissolved oxygen measurements. Each sensor comes factory-calibrated and pre-sterilized so it is ready to use right out of the box. Broad portfolio of different sensor forms for different cell culture and microbial applications.

Multiparameter Sensor & Adapter

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Non-invasive shake flask sensor capable of measuring DO and other parameters. The adapter holds the Multiparameter Sensor in place for increased stability, even at high shaking speeds.

DOTS Software & USB Hub

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DOTS Software, when paired with a sensor, enables the monitoring of critical parameters in real-time. Personalized dashboards allow you to easily visualize data while experimental control features facilitate the customized control of sensors and actuators. Important information such as calibration offsets and environmental compensation values (temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, and others) can be easily included.

What Our Customers Are Saying

"The DO Sensor Pills allow us to effortlessly visualize oxygen availability during shake flask cultivations. This important parameter has a strong influence on our overall process performance."



-Frédéric Lapierre (University of Applied Sciences, Munich)
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“The DO nanoparticles enabled us to optimize our process parameters with regard to oxygen availability in our chosen baffled shake flasks. Having live information on this critical, previously inaccessible process variable for our standard protocols proved extremely helpful in evaluating process performance and adjusting parameters accordingly."



-- Dr.-Ing. Sarah Westarp (Technical University Berlin, Berlin)
Technical University Of Berlin - logo

Resources

Can I autoclave and reuse the DO Sensor?

The Pill/Marble as well as the DO Nanoparticles are single-use products and should not be autoclaved or reused as they will loose their accuracy.

Do the Pills or Nanoparticles release any leachable substances?

Specific leachables and extractables (L&E) tests have not yet been performed. However, in in-house tests with microbial cultures, we have not observed any leaching of material from the DO Pill.

Does the Pill add shear stress to my culture?

The DO Pill introduces a small amount of shear stress to the culture, which may be relevant for experiments involving filamentous organisms. We have observed both intact and slightly altered morphologies in such cultures grown with the Pill.

Did you ever see (microbial) growth on the pill?

Microbial growth on the DO Pill is extremely uncommon. In rare cases, our team has observed it with filamentous organisms. Under most bioprocess conditions, no growth on the Pill is expected.

Does the DO Sensor interfere with my biomass or fluorescence measurements?

The DO Pill does not. The DOTS Software can subtract the recorded Pill movement from biomass or fluorescence signals. Therefore, simultaneous measurement of DO, biomass, and fluorescence is not an issue with the Pill. The DO Nanoparticles influence standard turbidity measurements. For offline OD measurements, this effect can be compensated by always adding the relevant concentration of Nanoparticles, basically adjusting the blank. As for our scattered light readings, the sensitivity even for early growth and low biomass concentrations should not be influenced in a negative way, but a minor y-axis offset might be necessary when comparing a Nanoparticle cultivation with one without Nanoparticles.

How is the oxygen shown in the software (which unit)?

You can choose between two units for displaying dissolved oxygen: % or mbar.

What is the shelf life of the DO Sensor?

Our DO Sensor Pills have a shelf life of 6 months in their original packaging. The DO Nanoparticles have a shelf life of 3 months in their original packaging.

How long does the DO Sensor last in a culture?

The DO Sensors are designed for reliable performance in long-term culture experiments. In practice, we have observed that the DO Pill maintains accurate and stable measurements for up to two weeks of continuous operation under typical culture conditions.

Downloads

Resources

FAQs
Can I autoclave and reuse the DO Sensor?

The Pill/Marble as well as the DO Nanoparticles are single-use products and should not be autoclaved or reused as they will loose their accuracy.

Do the Pills or Nanoparticles release any leachable substances?

Specific leachables and extractables (L&E) tests have not yet been performed. However, in in-house tests with microbial cultures, we have not observed any leaching of material from the DO Pill.

Does the Pill add shear stress to my culture?

The DO Pill introduces a small amount of shear stress to the culture, which may be relevant for experiments involving filamentous organisms. We have observed both intact and slightly altered morphologies in such cultures grown with the Pill.

Did you ever see (microbial) growth on the pill?

Microbial growth on the DO Pill is extremely uncommon. In rare cases, our team has observed it with filamentous organisms. Under most bioprocess conditions, no growth on the Pill is expected.

Does the DO Sensor interfere with my biomass or fluorescence measurements?

The DO Pill does not. The DOTS Software can subtract the recorded Pill movement from biomass or fluorescence signals. Therefore, simultaneous measurement of DO, biomass, and fluorescence is not an issue with the Pill. The DO Nanoparticles influence standard turbidity measurements. For offline OD measurements, this effect can be compensated by always adding the relevant concentration of Nanoparticles, basically adjusting the blank. As for our scattered light readings, the sensitivity even for early growth and low biomass concentrations should not be influenced in a negative way, but a minor y-axis offset might be necessary when comparing a Nanoparticle cultivation with one without Nanoparticles.

How is the oxygen shown in the software (which unit)?

You can choose between two units for displaying dissolved oxygen: % or mbar.

What is the shelf life of the DO Sensor?

Our DO Sensor Pills have a shelf life of 6 months in their original packaging. The DO Nanoparticles have a shelf life of 3 months in their original packaging.

How long does the DO Sensor last in a culture?

The DO Sensors are designed for reliable performance in long-term culture experiments. In practice, we have observed that the DO Pill maintains accurate and stable measurements for up to two weeks of continuous operation under typical culture conditions.

Customer Success Stories

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“Incorporating sbi’s pH and DO flow cells into our system removed the need for manual sampling, saving us time, reducing the risk of contamination, and providing information on how the cells are growing even when we are not in the lab. With availability of this more detailed view of our culture, we can make informed improvements to our cell expansion process.”

-Kitana Manivone Kaiphanliam (Washington State University)
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Learn More
dissolved oxygen graph

Integrated dissolved oxygen flow cells helped optimize a centrifugal bioreactor (CBR) designed to maximize cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) production for use in immunotherapy treatments.

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Read the full story

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