Open Source Software to Control Bioflo Bioreactors

Bioreactors are designed to support highly controlled environments for growth of tissues, cell cultures or microbial cultures. A variety of bioreactors are commercially available, often including sophisticated software to enhance the functionality of the bioreactor. However, experiments that the bioreactor hardware can support, but that were not envisioned during the software design cannot be performed without developing custom software. In addition, support for third party or custom designed auxiliary hardware is often sparse or absent. This work presents flexible open source freeware for the control of bioreactors of the Bioflo product family. The functionality of the software includes setpoint control, data logging, and protocol execution. Auxiliary hardware can be easily integrated and controlled through an integrated plugin interface without altering existing software. Simple experimental protocols can be entered as a CSV scripting file, and a Python-based protocol execution model is included for more demanding conditional experimental control. The software was designed to be a more flexible and free open source alternative to the commercially available solution. The source code and various auxiliary hardware plugins are publicly available for download from https://github.com/LibourelLab/BiofloSoftware. In addition to the source code, the software was compiled and packaged as a self-installing file for 32 and 64 bit windows operating systems. The compiled software will be able to control a Bioflo system, and will not require the installation of LabVIEW.

[1]  M E Gregory,et al.  A visual programming environment for bioprocess control. , 1994, Journal of biotechnology.

[2]  In Hong Yang,et al.  Automated On-Line Noninvasive Optical Glucose Monitoring in a Cell Culture System , 2002 .

[3]  Raynitchka Tzoneva,et al.  Integrating LabVIEW capabilities for monitoring and supervisory control with a B-Braun Biotech Gmbh unit for fermentation processing and direct control , 2005 .

[4]  P. Lipp,et al.  A system for optical high resolution screening of electrical excitable cells. , 2010, Cell calcium.

[5]  P. Dieu,et al.  Simultaneous adaptive predictive control of the partial pressures of dissolved oxygen (pO2) and dissolved carbon dioxide (pCO2) in a laboratory-scale bioreactor , 1996 .

[6]  B. Witholt,et al.  Closed-loop control of bacterial high-cell-density fed-batch cultures: production of mcl-PHAs by Pseudomonas putida KT2442 under single-substrate and cofeeding conditions. , 1999, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[7]  V. Altuzar,et al.  Atmospheric pollution profiles in Mexico City in two different seasons , 2003 .

[8]  Tuukka Prykäri,et al.  Application of LabVIEW: Complex Software Controlling of System for Optical Coherence Tomography , 2009 .

[9]  N. Thornhill,et al.  Closed‐loop control of fed‐batch cultures of recombinant Escherichia coli using on‐line HPLC , 1994, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[11]  Angel A Topalov,et al.  Development and integration of a LabVIEW-based modular architecture for automated execution of electrochemical catalyst testing. , 2011, The Review of scientific instruments.

[12]  U von Stockar,et al.  Development of an on-line control system for the cultivation of animal cells in a hollow-fiber reactor using flow injection analysis and a visual programming language , 1996 .

[13]  Tingyue Gu,et al.  Data Acquisition and Control of a 22 L B. Braun Fermenter Using LabVIEW , 2005 .

[14]  Emmanuel M. Drakakis,et al.  A Real-Time Multi-Channel Monitoring System for Stem Cell Culture Process , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems.

[15]  Fei Yu,et al.  Economic Evaluation of Syngas Production: Model Development and Analysis , 2012 .

[16]  Bo Fu,et al.  A Reconfigurable Real-Time Compressive-Sampling Camera for Biological Applications , 2011, PloS one.

[17]  K. Jayaraman,et al.  Impact of balanced substrate flux on the metabolic process employing fuzzy logic during the cultivation of Bacillus thuringiensis var. Galleriae , 2005 .