A contactless sensor for real-time measurement of Critical Material Attributes (CMAs), Critical Quality Attributes (CQAs), and metabolites is a valuable addition to the arsenal of process analytical tools available for producing high-quality cell-based therapeutic products. For example, the quality of post-translational modifications on monoclonal antibodies produced by Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells is affected by small changes in pH21 or cell stress induced by sudden changes in glucose and lactate levels. As such, pharmaceutical companies and researchers have dedicated significant resources toward the development of robust contactless sensors for fine bioprocess control.
A contactless label-free optical flow cytometer using the SWIR hyperspectral camera with an appropriate 20x infrared microscope lens (non-conventional lens) was invented at the UMD Bioimaging laboratory. The close-up SWIR system uses an inline flow-through chamber where several cells are imaged and analyzed label-free directly and simultaneously. Up to 20 absorbance signals can be captured for each 10-um cell, along with hundreds of thousands of media signals.
The proposed SWIR Cytometer will be able to capture a wider range of spatial-spectral relationships that can be used to segment cells and analyze molecular fingerprints from multiple compounds in real time, in media and across multiple cells, without the use of specially made Raman probes. This advanced in-line hyperspectral system will feature accurate, self-calibrated, non-invasive continuous CMA and CQA monitoring with deep learning, and it will be adaptable for single- or multiple-use scenarios.
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University of Maryland
Applied Imaging Solutions, LLC
