Hi,
This might seem a bit daft but I thought I would ask anyway.
As you know light is normally in spectrophotomtry to give a rough estimate of cell count/density, it works well enough especially using a curvette and machine designed to do the test. Sometimes it would be handy to be able to do something similar using the actual reaction vessel instead of taking a sample out.
There are a couple of seemingly simple experiments I have on the go using bacteria/yeast/'other' Methanogens, the problem is taking a sample can cause havoc and is generally destructive to the sample in the conditions I have inside the vessel. I dont have anyway to take sample and return the cells to the vessel. The following are some of the problems I have............
The reaction vessel is anoxic conditions, I can maintain this using a septum and syringe to take the sample. The problem is however I often have to do serial dilutions in order to get a clear enough sample for spectrophotometer to work properly, by the time the sample is dilute enough and a reading is taken many of the cells are dead and I cant return them.
I need to return the cells as part of the experiment is dependent on not altering cell density artificially. I do take samples for viability study etc, but this is once every three weeks. I need a quick easy way to do a general density count every hour preferably (if I can automate it) or 3 time a day at absolute minimum.
I did make a vessel photometer that wasnt great accuracy wise but did fit on the side of the reactor, the problem is now I have to use a light free reactor!
So using something that shines light through the sides isnt going to work.
The original vessel I used was a very dark glass, however this proved to be not dark enough! I then tried stainless steel reactor but this isnt going to work for light or radio waves! So I now have a HDPE reactor thats working well but I can only measure density and cell count every three weeks.
So to get to the point.
Can anyone think of a way to use a low radio signal/wave that I could send through the vessel and measure? Actually the big question is would cells be enough to scatter radio waves like they can light waves and could this be measured?
I would be interested in knowing first of all could cell density scatter/affect radio waves? If I can get an answer to that then I will at least know if its even worth looking at. I have been given £700 to do these experiments and I have around £145 left, I need around £15 of this however to keep the experiment going (reagents blah blah blah).
This might seem a bit daft but I thought I would ask anyway.
As you know light is normally in spectrophotomtry to give a rough estimate of cell count/density, it works well enough especially using a curvette and machine designed to do the test. Sometimes it would be handy to be able to do something similar using the actual reaction vessel instead of taking a sample out.
There are a couple of seemingly simple experiments I have on the go using bacteria/yeast/'other' Methanogens, the problem is taking a sample can cause havoc and is generally destructive to the sample in the conditions I have inside the vessel. I dont have anyway to take sample and return the cells to the vessel. The following are some of the problems I have............
The reaction vessel is anoxic conditions, I can maintain this using a septum and syringe to take the sample. The problem is however I often have to do serial dilutions in order to get a clear enough sample for spectrophotometer to work properly, by the time the sample is dilute enough and a reading is taken many of the cells are dead and I cant return them.
I need to return the cells as part of the experiment is dependent on not altering cell density artificially. I do take samples for viability study etc, but this is once every three weeks. I need a quick easy way to do a general density count every hour preferably (if I can automate it) or 3 time a day at absolute minimum.
I did make a vessel photometer that wasnt great accuracy wise but did fit on the side of the reactor, the problem is now I have to use a light free reactor!
So using something that shines light through the sides isnt going to work.
The original vessel I used was a very dark glass, however this proved to be not dark enough! I then tried stainless steel reactor but this isnt going to work for light or radio waves! So I now have a HDPE reactor thats working well but I can only measure density and cell count every three weeks.
So to get to the point.
Can anyone think of a way to use a low radio signal/wave that I could send through the vessel and measure? Actually the big question is would cells be enough to scatter radio waves like they can light waves and could this be measured?
I would be interested in knowing first of all could cell density scatter/affect radio waves? If I can get an answer to that then I will at least know if its even worth looking at. I have been given £700 to do these experiments and I have around £145 left, I need around £15 of this however to keep the experiment going (reagents blah blah blah).