World's first handheld sensor for measuring optical density

BugLab LLC, the industry leader in non-invasive optical monitoring, has introduced the OD Scanner – the world's first handheld sensor for measuring optical density in shake flasks and other small vessels. This device removes the need to open shake flasks to measure optical density (OD).  Instead, by directly measuring OD through the container wall, the labor, contamination risk, and inaccuracy associated with sampling and dilution are eliminated.  The user simply points the OD Scanner into a flask and an OD measurement is reported within three (3) seconds.  When tens or hundreds of flasks need to be monitored, the labor savings are substantial.

The OD Scanner is based on BugLab's patented optical technology for measuring biomass accurately over a wide variety of conditions.   The OD Scanner directly reports ODs from 0.1 to 50 with high accuracy across a wide range of vessel sizes (125 to 2000 mL) and materials (glass, PC, PET). The Scanner can be used with very small fluid volumes, requiring only 1 cm of fluid to be present. Up to 1000 measurements can be stored and downloaded, tracked by date, time, and measurement number. Custom calibrations for different organisms can be easily uploaded to the device as well.  

The OD Scanner has been tested and shown effective in measuring several microorganisms and cultures including E. coli, yeast, and animal cell cultures, providing benefit in biopharmaceutical research and production, academic and industrial microbiology, industrial brewing, and biofuels research.