Overview

Monitor biomass and growth rates in your shake flask bioprocess with high resolution using the CGQ. Optical biomass measurements are based on backscattered light detection without the use of integrated sensors. Simply install the sensor plate under the shake flask and monitor the biomass through the vessel floor. Follow the growth of your cultures in real-time to gain actionable insights into your strain’s growth behavior.

Key Features

  • Automated, non-invasive, online biomass measurement in shake flasks
  • Monitoring of addition parameters: Local temperature and shaking speed for every flask
  • Powerful DOTS Software for easy sensor handling and real-time data visualization

Benefits

  • Generate high-resolution growth curves
  • Save hours of manual, hands-on time required for offline OD Measurements
  • Actionable insights: Detect and react to real-time data right away

Current Shake Flask Challenges

No Biomass Monitoring
  • Forces researchers to accept under-sampled experiments and "black box" shake flasks with limited bioprocess understanding
Disadvantageous Biomass Sampling
  • Requires hours of manual, hands-on time for offline OD sampling
  • Causes process interruptions, risk of contamination, and loss of culture volume
  • Results in rough growth estimates

How It Works

Our Cell Growth Quantifier (CGQ) enables biomass monitoring in shake flasks. The CGQ’s technique for non-invasive cell density monitoring is based on the principle of light backscattering.

Using LEDs and photodiodes, the CGQ sensor emits light through the shake flask wall and measures the amount of light that is scattered back. The more cells that are in the medium, the more light is scattered back. This backscattered signal can be correlated with offline cell density data, such as OD600 or cell dry weight.

CGQ Sensing
Architecture

CGQ Sensing Architecture
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The sensor plate of the CGQ contains an LED light source and a photodiode detector. The CGQ’s innovative measuring method treats the signal fluctuations from the moving bulk liquid due to shaking as a valuable information source rather than noise.

Biomass Monitoring by Backscattered Light

Biomass Monitoring by Backscattered Light
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Light is emitted from the LED into the culture medium. While most photons go straight through the broth, some are scattered by the cells and return to the photodiode, which measures the scattered light intensity. The higher the cell density, the more light is scattered back to the photodiode.

Application Data & Results

Explore applications in real-world situations. Looking for something specific? Contact us to see data for your organism and application.

Saccharomyces-cerevisiae-on-Mixed-Carbon-Sources-cgq

Saccharomyces cerevisiae CEN.PK2.-1C, 50 mL Minimal Media, 300 mL Shake Flasks, 30 °C, 180 rpm

Screening Experiments

The CGQ is ideal for screening experiments in shake flasks such as media optimizations. Shake flask fermentations can be automatically monitored regarding biomass and growth rates with high resolution and parallelization, making the CGQ a valuable tool for growth-based strain characterization and development.

Detecting Oxygen Limitations

The Cell Growth Quantifier (CGQ) aids in growth characterization experiments. Here, the growth media in shake flask cultivations of S. pasteurii were evaluated by monitoring the backscatter and oxygen transfer rate (OTR) during shake flask cultivation. The growth curves indicated a oxygen limitation.

Growth-Characterization-Sporosarcina-pasteurii

Sporosarcina pasteurii, 250 mL Shake Flasks, 10 mL Filling Volume, 50 mm Throw, 30 °C, 300 rpm

Promotor Induction in Pichia pastoris with Biomass-based feeding (1)

Pichia pastoris (P. pastoris), 200 rpm/25 mm, 10 % filling volume, 250 ml flask, 37°C

Improved Induction Screenings

Promotor Induction with Biomass-based feeding for Pichia pastoris cultivations in shake flasks.

Biomass-based feeding in shake flasks uses the interconnectivity of sensors (CGQ) and actuators (Liquid Injection System) within the new DOTS Software to enable feedback controlled feeding in your shake flask experiments. The implementation of smart feeding strategies based on biomass measurements can help optimize your bioprocess.

Read The Success Story →

Works With Unique Organisms (Filamentous, Anaerobic, and More)

In the described studies by Ingo Bauer et al., several growth experiments were conducted with the CGQ, testing different filamentous A. fumigatus wild type strains, mutants with previously reported growth defects, and different media compositions, imposing e.g., iron or nitrogen limitations. The results showed that the data produced with the CGQ was reliable and reproducible. Learn More →

Growth Curves of Filamentous Aspergillus fumigatus

CGQ-mediated growth monitoring of A. fumigatus  during 14–72 h liquid shake culturing under +Fe and −Fe conditions

Want to see data for your organism or application?

We have tested over 100 microorganisms for more than 50 different applications with our technology.

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Hardware & Software Components

CGQ Sensor

CGQ Sensor
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Each sensor plate is positioned under the cultivation vessel and measures the biomass non-invasively through the vessel wall.

CGQ Hub

CGQ Hub
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Several sensor plates can be connected to a single hub. The CGQ hub bundles the data from all monitored flasks and sends it to the DOTS Software.

DOTS Software

SBI-Icon-dots-software-computer-2
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The DOTS Software receives the data from the hub and visualizes backscattered light intensities in real-time, providing high-resolution growth curves.

What Our Customers Are Saying

"By using the Cell Growth Quantifier (CGQ), we were able to get growth data in an unmatched frequency without manual sampling. "

-Prof. Dr. ir. Eveline Peeters (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium)
VUB
"You don't get more product by trying to get more product, but by gaining more insights into your process."

-Raul Reveles (Senior Bioprocessing Engineer, Bond Pet Foods)
BondPetFoods_Logo

Specifications

Flask

Compatible Laboratory Infrastructure

The CGQ is compatible with a variety of vessel types. An available adapter system provides maximum flexibility, allowing the same sensor plate to be used with different shake flask sizes.

  • Any shake flask size ranging from 100 mL to 5000 mL

  • Flasks with or without baffles

  • Glass and single-use flasks

  • Spring clip and Sticky Mat mounts

Example Organisms Successfully Monitored with CGQ Technology

Bacteria

  • Escherichia coli

  • Corynebacterium glutamicum

  • Bacillus subtilis

  • Pseudomonas putida

  • Pseudomonas taiwanensis

  • Gluconobacter oxydans

  • Lactobacillus plantarum

  • Vibrio natriegens

  • Vibrio cholerae

  • Staphylococcus aureus

  • Klebsiella pneumoniae

  • Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae

  • Chromobacterium violaceum

  • Blautia producta

  • Hungtatella hathewayi

  • Prevotella copri

Yeast

  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae

  • Schizosaccharomyces pombe

  • Pichia pastoris

  • Yarrowia lipolytica

  • Kluyveromyces lactis

  • Hansenula polymorpha

  • Ustilago maydis

Filamentous organisms

  • Aspergillus fumigatus

  • Aspergillus nidulans

  • Aspergillus niger

  • Streptomyces acidiscabies

  • Streptomyces venezuelae

  • Trichoderma reesei

Archaea

  • Haloferax volcanii

  • Sulfolobus acidocaldarius

Anaerobic organisms

  • Acetobacterium woodii

  • Clostridium aectobutylicum

  • Clostridium ljungdahlii

  • Clostridium difficile

Phototrophic organisms

  • Chlorella vulgaris

  • Scenedesmus obliquus

  • Synechococcus elongatus

  • Nicotiana tabacum BY-2 (plant cells)

Resources

Compatibility
Flask

Compatible Laboratory Infrastructure

The CGQ is compatible with a variety of vessel types. An available adapter system provides maximum flexibility, allowing the same sensor plate to be used with different shake flask sizes.

  • Any shake flask size ranging from 100 mL to 5000 mL

  • Flasks with or without baffles

  • Glass and single-use flasks

  • Spring clip and Sticky Mat mounts

Organisms

Example Organisms Successfully Monitored with CGQ Technology

Bacteria

  • Escherichia coli

  • Corynebacterium glutamicum

  • Bacillus subtilis

  • Pseudomonas putida

  • Pseudomonas taiwanensis

  • Gluconobacter oxydans

  • Lactobacillus plantarum

  • Vibrio natriegens

  • Vibrio cholerae

  • Staphylococcus aureus

  • Klebsiella pneumoniae

  • Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae

  • Chromobacterium violaceum

  • Blautia producta

  • Hungtatella hathewayi

  • Prevotella copri

Yeast

  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae

  • Schizosaccharomyces pombe

  • Pichia pastoris

  • Yarrowia lipolytica

  • Kluyveromyces lactis

  • Hansenula polymorpha

  • Ustilago maydis

Filamentous organisms

  • Aspergillus fumigatus

  • Aspergillus nidulans

  • Aspergillus niger

  • Streptomyces acidiscabies

  • Streptomyces venezuelae

  • Trichoderma reesei

Archaea

  • Haloferax volcanii

  • Sulfolobus acidocaldarius

Anaerobic organisms

  • Acetobacterium woodii

  • Clostridium aectobutylicum

  • Clostridium ljungdahlii

  • Clostridium difficile

Phototrophic organisms

  • Chlorella vulgaris

  • Scenedesmus obliquus

  • Synechococcus elongatus

  • Nicotiana tabacum BY-2 (plant cells)

Resources

Resources

From Estimation To High-Resolution Growth Curves

Why CGQ for your Shake Flasks?

Manual sampling-based data is often not sufficient to fully understand the bioprocess. Offline sampling is complex and time consuming, resulting in lower measurement frequency with most pulls being at the start or the end of the experiment. This means that critical information from your growth phases are being overlooked, and could have a detrimental impact on your final product. Automated online measurements, on the other hand, never miss a moment. With a high resolution growth curve, you can detect bioprocess changes in real-time.

Cell Growth Quantifier (CGQ)
Success Growth Graph

Customer Success Stories

SBI-Success-Table-2
"Our group has been using the Cell Growth Quantifier (CGQ) for roughly five years by now and even though we often use the device for screenings, it also is the perfect tool for toxicity tests.”

-Dr. Julia Hitschler (University of Frankfurt)
Goethe University Frankfurt
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Want To Connect The DOTS In Your Bioprocessing?

CONTACT OUR TEAM