Instrumentation and Process Control

Cultivation of animal cells in an environment optimal for manufacture of desired products requires monitoring and control of a substantial number of physical and chemical parameters. Physical parameters include temperature, fluid flow, and agitation rates. Chemical parameters include the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration, pH, cell density, and the concentrations of nutrients, cofactors, growth factors, desired products, and wastes. Alterations in the levels of these factors can impact the productivity of a cultivation. Neglecting any of these can potentially introduce substantial variations in the quantity or quality of the desired product. Development of instrumentation to monitor these parameters and to provide aggressive process control schemes has been the subject of substantial research in recent years and now forms a core competency of cell culture technology. This chapter provides an overview of instrumentation applied to monitor cell cultures and describes the application of instrumentation to process control.