Wireless Sensor-Integrated Platform for Localized Dissolved Oxygen Sensing in Bioreactors

• Published in: Journal of microelectromechanical systems Vol. 29; no. 5; pp. 713 - 719
• Main Authors: Stine, Justin M., Beardslee, Luke A., Chu, Sangwook, Liu, Sanwei, Motabar, Dana, Bentley, William E., Ghodssi, Reza
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.10.2020; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Analog circuits; Aqueous solutions; Batteries; Biocompatibility; Biomembranes; bioreactor; Bioreactors; Bluetooth; bluetooth low energy; Chemical sensors; Circuit boards; Dissolved oxygen; electrochemical sensor; Microcontrollers; Monitoring; Packaging; Printed circuits; Robustness (mathematics); Saturation; Sensors; Three dimensional printing; Wireless communication; wireless electronics; Wireless sensor networks
• ISSN: 1057-7157; 1941-0158
• DOI: 10.1109/JMEMS.2020.2999089

This work presents a miniaturized electrochemical sensor-integrated bioprocess monitoring pod (bPod) that wirelessly monitors local dissolved oxygen (DO) saturation within bioreactors in real-time. The system comprises a compact printed circuit board (PCB) that integrates a potentiostat analog-front-end (AFE) and a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) microcontroller with an electrochemical DO sensor. In situ detection of DO within the bioreactor is enabled via a 3-D printed ABS-M30i shell, representing a robust and biocompatible packaging solution for prolonged monitoring. The platform is evaluated in a bench-scale bioreactor filled with aqueous media, and data is extracted wirelessly via a custom-developed application. A linear response corresponding to DO saturation levels was achieved using chronoamperometry (CA), exhibiting a dynamic voltage range between 1.3 V (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">-4.9\,\,\mu \text{A} </tex-math></inline-formula>) and 0.87 V (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">-11.1\,\,\mu \text{A} </tex-math></inline-formula>), corresponding to 0% and 100% DO saturation respectively, with a sensitivity of 6.3 mV/DO%. This work highlights a unique sensor assembly and packaging approach to overcome challenges for localized bioprocess monitoring platforms in bioreactors. [2020-0149]