The Application of Dielectric Spectroscopy and Biocalorimetry for the Monitoring of Biomass in Immobilized Mammalian Cell Cultures

The purpose of this study was to introduce dielectric spectroscopy and biocalorimetry as monitoring methods to follow immobilised Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell culture development. The theory behind both monitoring techniques is explained and perfusion cultures are performed in a Reaction Calorimeter (eRC1 from Mettler Toledo) as an application example. The findings of this work show that dielectric spectroscopy gives highly reliable information upon the viable cell density throughout the entire culture. On the other hand, the RC1 could only provide accurate data from day 5, when the cell density exceeded 4 × 106 vcells∙mL−1 (viable cell per mL) working volume (WV). The method validation showed the limit of detection (LOD) for 1.4 L cultures to be 8.86 × 106 vcells∙mL−1, a viable cell density commonly achieved in fed-batch and the early stages of a perfusion culture. This work suggests that biocalorimetry should be possible to implement at industrial scale to monitor CHO cell cultures.