A concept sensor-based system to be integrated in an existing automated platform monitoring bacterial growth

Reconfigurable measuring system for the automatic detection of bacterial growth in a specimen processing platform

“…It integrates elements that otherwise should be included as separate parts. An example is the direct digital synthesiser for excitation waveforms generation, which was a distinct element in the previous electronic unit of system version proposed in [25]. It is a part of the same component in the present version.…”

“…This results in benefits concerning reduced dimensions, which enhance system portability. In fact, the electronic module is contained in the black box shown in Figure 1, whose dimensions are 120 x 120 x 55 mm, and it is more compact than the electronic unit described in [25]. Integrated circuit AD5933 generates excitation waveforms characterised by a DC offset equal to 1.65 V, but whose amplitude and frequency can be set according to user necessity, albeit within a specific range, comprising f1 and f2.…”

“…Compared to the previous versions illustrated in [25]- [26] in which connectivity was not an addressed issue, the solutions implemented by the measuring system proposed in this paper promote information exchange between the actors that play a role in the analytical process, as presented in Figure 4. This exchange is beneficial.…”

“…Therefore, it presents a case study about the application of Industry 4.0 principles to microbiology. At the same time, this article proposes an improved system compared with previous versions illustrated in other works [25]- [26], regarding both electronics and user interface development.…”

“…All Petri dishes were sterilised with γ rays after the insertion of electrodes. We fitted the Petri dish frequency response with the equivalent circuit model represented in Figure 2 [25]. It describes the electrode/medium interface through the parallel between the double layer capacitance CDL and charge transfer resistance RCT.…”