A Disposable Impedance-based Sensor for In-line Cell Growth Monitoring
in CAR-T Cell Manufacturing
Abstract
This paper presents the development of low-cost, disposable
impedance-based sensors for real-time, in-line monitoring of suspension
cell culture. The sensors consist of electrical discharge machining
(EDM) cut aluminum electrodes and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) spacers,
low-cost materials that can be safely disposed of. Our work testifies
the capability of the low-cost sensors for in-line, non-invasive
monitoring for suspension cell growth in cell manufacturing. A hybrid
equivalent circuit model extracts key features/parameters from
intertwined impedance signals and feeds them to a novel physics-inspired
model designed for low-frequency dielectric dispersion (LFDD) to decide
viable cell count (VCC), a critical quality attribute (CQA) in cell
manufacturing. Predicted VCC trends are then compared with image-based
cell count data to verify their accuracy.