Oxygen reduces the shelf-life of any beverage and therefore affects the flavour of the product. The knowledge of the exact oxygen permeation rate into a PET-bottle makes a comprehensive quality control possible. PreSens offers a way to measure continuously and non-invasively the oxygen ingress into PET-bottles. An inexpensive optical-chemical sensor spot is fixed to the inner wall. The optical-chemical technology allows to measure the oxygen concentration either in the gas or the liquid phase and therefore under real conditions. The concentration of trace oxygen can be read out in a non-destructive way, by performing the measurement from the outside through the wall of the bottle. This method provides accurate data in real time, even in very low oxygen concentrations (limit of detection: 1ppb dissolved oxygen). The continuous trace oxygen measurement during the complete testing period saves samples and labour costs.

The launch of the SDR SensorDish^® Reader from PreSens enables non-invasive online-detection of pH and oxygen concentration in cell and tissue cultures. It is designed for permanent use in CO₂- and shaking incubators. The optical measurement principle guarantees simple and non-invasive recording of the two important culture parameters for continuous process monitoring. The system consists of two components: The sterile 24-well culture plate with integrated optical-chemical pH- or oxygen sensors (Hydro^®- and OxoDish^®, both disposables) as well as the SensorDish^® Reader. The SensorDish^® Reader communication software displays the pH and oxygen value of each sample immediately.
The pH is displayed with a resolution of ± 0.05 pH units between pH 6.0-8.5, the oxygen content with a resolution of ± 2 % air saturation. Calibration by the user is not required. One PC controls up to 10 SensorDish^® Readers with a total of 240 samples for extensive, parallel screening tests. With the new SensorDish^® Reader the metabolic cell activity can be monitored fast and under sterile conditions. Necessary changes of culture medium are indicated in time and for each well individually. Besides process monitoring in cell culture, the application fields of the SensorDish^® Reader comprise tissue engineering, upscaling, toxicological studies, pharmacological drug screening and environmental analytics, for example the BOD test. With its non-invasive recording principle the SensorDish^® Reader sets a new benchmark in cell culture monitoring. Processes can be optimised with a significant increase in efficiency.