Futura Biomass Probe Tester

Cells with intact plasma membranes in a fermenter can be considered to act as tiny capacitors under the influence of an electric field. The non-conducting nature of the plasma membrane allows a build up of charge. The resulting capacitance can be measured: it is dependent upon the cell type and directly proportional to the membrane bound volume of these viable cells. ABER´s technology converts capacitance into a biomass reading, typically cells / ml or g / l. However, other units can be derived from the raw capacitance measurements; these may be more relevant to the chosen application.

FUTURA thus measures the Conductivity of the medium, in millisiemens per centimeter (mS / cm). Conductivity is not used to measure biomass but is indicative of the production or utilization of ions by the cell suspension. The FUTURA instrument (or head amplifier) is the system’s main processing engine, powering the probe and transferring critical data to the chosen output. It is available in two distinct variants for reusable bioreactor systems:  The STANDARD FUTURA is typically used with larger bioreactors. The design of the STANDARD REMOTE FUTURA is best suited to small vessels where the available head space is often limited to a small footprint. It Incorporates a slim, light-weight pre-amplifier making it ideal for smallbioreactors with as low as 100 ml working volume.