Shake Flask Cap With Integrated Sensing and Dosing Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional shake flasks require resource-intensive offline analysis for process control, leading to contamination risks, time-consuming sample draws, and disruptions in cultivation processes, while lacking real-time monitoring capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A container attachment for shake flasks integrates sensor and dispensing units, enabling real-time process control and correction, such as pH adjustment, through a closed-loop system that minimizes peripheral equipment and reduces contamination risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If offline analysis is used for process control, then resource-intensive sampling and analysis procedures are required, but real-time monitoring capability is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical sampling and offline analysis systems with an optical measurement system. Optical sensors mounted on the shake flask cap continuously monitor cultivation parameters in real-time, eliminating the need for manual sample withdrawal and laboratory analysis, thus resolving the contradiction between measurement accuracy and time loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements real-time feedback through continuous optical monitoring of cultivation parameters. The system provides immediate feedback on substrate consumption and product formation, enabling timely process adjustments without the time delay inherent in offline analysis methods.
2Measurement precision
If sample draws are performed from shake flasks, then process parameters can be measured, but contamination risk increases due to handling the open cultivation unit
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical sampling operations with non-invasive optical measurement. Sensors mounted on the cap measure substrate and product concentrations through the flask wall without opening the cultivation unit, thereby eliminating contamination risk while maintaining measurement capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the shake flask wall as an intermediary medium for optical measurement. The optical sensors detect cultivation parameters through the flask wall, allowing measurement without direct contact with the culture medium and thus preventing contamination.
3Loss of information
If sample withdrawal is performed, then process monitoring is enabled, but mass exchange of dissolved gases comes to a standstill due to interruption of mixing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables continuous monitoring of cultivation parameters without interrupting the shaking process. Optical sensors provide continuous data on substrate consumption and product formation while the cultivation unit remains in motion, maintaining mass exchange and cultivation productivity throughout the measurement process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical sampling operations that require stopping the shaker with optical measurement systems that work continuously during shaking. This substitution maintains both the useful action of mixing and the information gathering function of process monitoring.
4Measurement precision
If multiple sample draws are performed for pH adjustments or substrate additions, then process control is improved, but the multi-hour reaction time required is disruptive and increases contamination risk
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements real-time feedback control for pH and substrate management. Optical sensors continuously monitor relevant parameters, and the system automatically triggers pH adjustments or substrate additions based on real-time data, eliminating the multi-hour delay of traditional offline analysis and manual intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses optical monitoring to detect early signs of substrate depletion or pH deviation before critical levels are reached. This preliminary detection allows for timely, minimal adjustments rather than reactive corrections requiring multi-hour reaction times.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a cultivation system comprising a cultivation container, in particular a handheld container, preferably designed as a shaker flask, for receiving a culture medium, wherein the cultivation container has a neck and an opening extending through the neck, and a container attachment which can be placed on the neck of the cultivation container to close the opening of the cultivation container, wherein the container attachment has an inside and an outside, the inside facing the interior of the cultivation container and the outside facing the exterior of the cultivation container when the container attachment is placed on the neck of the cultivation container, wherein the container attachment comprises at least one sensor unit or a port for installing a sensor unit and/or at least one dispensing unit or a port for installing a dispensing unit.wherein the sensor unit is or can be arranged at least partially on the inside of the container attachment to enable parameter measurement inside the cultivation container, and wherein the dispensing unit is or can be arranged at least partially on the inside of the container attachment to enable liquid dispensing into the interior of the cultivation container.