fermSYS goes Cell Culture
Modern cell culture monitoring using VOC sensors and fermHUB
Unlocking Real-Time Cell Culture Insights
Reliable data and soft sensors for bioprocess R&D
In many laboratories and R&D departments, peering into the incubator is a daily ritual. Whether working with mammalian cells, yeasts, or bacterial cultures, monitoring cell growth and metabolism is frequently characterized by manual effort, spot-checks, and time-delayed offline analyses. Modern bioprocess engineering demands more—it requires continuity, automation, and genuine real-time insights.
This is where innovative gas-phase sensing and smart software infrastructure converge: Combining a VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) sensor with the fermHUB platform takes cell culture monitoring to an entirely new level.
The Principle: What Off-Gas Reveals About Cellular Health
Cellular metabolic processes leave behind traces—not just in the medium, but also in the surrounding gas phase (headspace / off-gas). Volatile organic compounds and metabolites shift dynamically as a culture grows, enters exponential phase, or shifts into a stress response.
A compact VOC sensor, integrated directly into culture vessels (such as standard T-flasks or bioreactors) within the fermSYS setup, continuously captures these volatile metabolites.
The Highlight: The system condenses complex metabolite signals into a single, meaningful composite value, tracking dynamic shifts in the exhaust gas continuously without ever breaching sterile barriers.
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Laboratory set-up for cell culture with VOC exhaust gas sensors
​Data in Motion: The Role of fermHUB
Sensors alone only generate raw data. Their true value is unlocked where data converges, is interpreted, and is visualized. This is where fermHUB steps in.
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Centralized Dashboard: All sensor streams flow into a unified user interface, paving a seamless path from classical monitoring to advanced process automation ("From Monitoring to Autonomy").
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Development of soft sensors for cell viability: A key feature of the platform is the ability to implement soft sensors. By combining continuous VOC exhaust gas data with mathematical models and algorithms, complex parameters that are difficult to measure directly – such as cell viability or live cell density – can be calculated and predicted in real time. This replaces time-consuming manual viability staining with an intelligent, virtual sensor in the dashboard.
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Early Anomaly Detection: Because the VOC sensor measures non-invasively and in real-time, fermHUB triggers alerts the moment metabolic trends deviate unexpectedly—often before pH shifts or optical densities become visible in the lab.
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Reproducibility in R&D: Experimental runs can be digitally documented, compared, and better standardized through automated protocols.
Practical Application Example: A Smarter Workflow in the T-Flask
A typical scenario in biotechnology and pharmaceutical R&D involves cultivating adherent or suspension cells in standard culture vessels.
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The Setup: Using a sterile tubing connection, a compact VOC sensor is integrated directly into the gas loop of a cell culture flask. The closed system remains sterile while the off-gas is continuously analyzed.
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Monitoring: Whilst the cells are growing in the incubator, the sensor streams the VOC data in real time to the fermHUB software. Researchers can see the metabolic curve and the viability trends determined by soft sensors at a glance on their dashboard.
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The Benefit: If an unexpected metabolic shift or contamination occurs, the curve reacts instantly. R&D teams bypass time-consuming manual sampling, minimize contamination risks associated with open handling, and gain precise kinetic insights into their cultures.
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Conclusion: Moving Away from Spot-Checks Toward Process Clarity
For laboratories and R&D teams seeking to accelerate and deepen their processes, the combination of VOC sensing and fermHUB is a powerful tool. It replaces guesswork between sampling intervals with seamless, digital transparency—a crucial step toward transitioning from passive observation to intelligent bioprocess control.
Which parameters in your cell cultures are you currently still monitoring manually? Join the discussion with us.