OPTICAL SENSORS FOR BIOPROCESS CONTROL

Bioprocess techniques are an important field in biotechnology. To run processes with high yields of products, to ensure product quality and for process optimization it is essential to acquire relevant process and control parameters quickly with high reliability. Therefore, various types of sensors are used; recently, beside chemosensors, new emphasis has been placed on biosensors for bioprocess control. At the same time optical transducers are gaining in significance. One reason for the increasing interest in optical sensors is the ready availability of fiber optic technologies. The combination of sensor technologies with fiber optics offers many possibilities due to miniaturisation and remote control and therefore meets the special requirements of bioprocess techniques.This review introduces various classes of optical chemo- and biosensors for bioprocess control.