Patent ID: 6596507
Filing Date: 2003-07-22
Classification: C12M,G01N

Abstract:
Device for determining characteristics of a biomass, comprising:a probe (S, Sâ€²) provided for being applied to a medium containing biological cells, said probe (S, Sâ€²) comprising means (E1, E4) for injecting a current into said medium, means (E2, E3) for reading the voltage applied to said medium, and means (116) for measuring the injected current, a conditioner (10) comprising means (112) for providing a galvanically isolated alternative voltage to be applied to said current injection means (E1, E4), and means (200) for processing signals (I, V) respectively representative of the current injected into said medium and of the voltage read by the voltage reading means (E2, E3), in such a way as to deliver measurement signals (C, G) respectively of the capacity and of the conductance of said medium, characterized in that these processing means (200) comprise: a measuring bridge using the null method (150) designed to process a signal representing the injected current and a signal representing the read voltage applied respectively to a reference branch and to two opposing branches, and means (15, 16) for automatically controlling this bridge (150) on the basis of the conductance measurement signal (G).