On-line monitoring of the aggregate size distribution of Carthamus tinctorius L. cells with multi-frequency capacitance measurements

Abstract

This study provided an effective methodology for the aggregate size distribution measurement of Carthamus tinctorius L. cells during suspension culture. The results demonstrated that the changes of the cell aggregate size could be reflected in the β-dispersion by the multi-frequency capacitance measurements. Furthermore, a non-linear optimization model was established and validated for predicting the cell aggregate size distribution. In addition, the on-line predicted data agreed well with off-line measurements using microscopic observation and laser-based image analysis.