JBB : Vol. 100 (2005) , No. 2 p.172-177

Transponder-Based Sensor for Monitoring Electrical Properties of Biological Cell Solutions

Mirko C. Hofmann¹⁾, Frank Kensy²⁾, Jochen Büchs²⁾, Wilfried Mokwa¹⁾ and Uwe Schnakenberg¹⁾

1) Institute of Materials in Electrical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University
2) Biochemical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University

(Received 21-Dec-2004)
(Accepted 16-Apr-2005)

An inductive passive remote sensor circuit for monitoring fermentation processes is presented. The sensor circuit consists of an interdigital capacitor and a planar coil structured on a glass laminated FR4-printed circuit board. This circuit resonates at frequencies between 2 and 4 MHz. After the resonant sensor circuit is immersed in a fermentation vessel with a cell solution, the resonant frequencies are detected by measuring the impedance of an external loop antenna. A new theory is presented to describe the behavior of the sensor circuit. In combination with a proposed equivalent circuit, the theory enables the calculation of the permittivity and conductivity of the cell solution under test by determining the resonant frequencies of the sensor without the need for any additional fitting functions. The influence of the relaxation behavior of living cells on the sensor signal with respect to the conductivity of the solution is discussed in detail. To prove the new theory, the determined permittivity is compared with the optical density of a cell solution, an indicator of cell concentration. The performed measurements show the expected correlation between the determined permittivity and optical density. The solution under test is a yeast culture in YPG medium.

Key words: biomass, resonant, sensor, conductivity