Label-free in-line characterization of immune cell culture using quantitative phase imaging

Cell therapies, such as T cell immunotherapies, hold significant promise for treating complex diseases; however, their widespread adoption has been hindered by challenges related to monitoring cells during culture, which has affected their consistency, potency, and cost. Here, we present a compact, low-cost, label-free quantitative phase imaging (QPI) platform to enable continuous, non-destructive, in-line monitoring of T cell cultures within bioreactors. We further develop quantitative, image-based assays that accurately characterizes T cell culture viability and activation from over 50 independent donors-including therapeutically relevant CAR-T cells - while also preserving culture sterility and eliminating the need for disruptive sampling and endpoint assays. Our findings establish a QPI-pipeline for label-free, in-line cell monitoring and characterization which can significantly improve cell manufacturing processes.

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Publication Details

Journal
npj Regenerative Medicine
Published
2025-11-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41536-025-00442-x
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Digital Holography and Microscopy
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.74

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article

Label-free in-line characterization of immune cell culture using quantitative phase imaging

Viswanath Gorti, Krishnendu Roy, Christine E. Brown, Benjamin Joffe et al.
3 citations
npj Regenerative Medicine
Digital Holography and Microscopy
3.74
article

Label-free in-line characterization of immune cell culture using quantitative phase imaging

Viswanath Gorti, Krishnendu Roy, Christine E. Brown, Benjamin Joffe, Rui Qi Chen, Stephen Balakirsky, Bharat Kanwar, Paloma Casteleiro Costa, Linda Kippner, Aaron D. Silva Trenkle, Francisco E. Robles, Annie C Bowles-Welch, Caroline Filan, Gabriel A. Kwong, Brian Wicker, Jing Li, Bryan Wang, Ye Li, Isaac LeCompte
article en
3 citations

Abstract

Cell therapies, such as T cell immunotherapies, hold significant promise for treating complex diseases; however, their widespread adoption has been hindered by challenges related to monitoring cells during culture, which has affected their consistency, potency, and cost. Here, we present a compact, low-cost, label-free quantitative phase imaging (QPI) platform to enable continuous, non-destructive, in-line monitoring of T cell cultures within bioreactors. We further develop quantitative, image-based assays that accurately characterizes T cell culture viability and activation from over 50 independent donors-including therapeutically relevant CAR-T cells - while also preserving culture sterility and eliminating the need for disruptive sampling and endpoint assays. Our findings establish a QPI-pipeline for label-free, in-line cell monitoring and characterization which can significantly improve cell manufacturing processes.

npj Regenerative MedicineVol. 10(1)
Georgia Institute of Technology (US), The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering (US), City of Hope (US), Beckman Research Institute, Georgia Tech Research Institute
National Science Foundation, Research Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Openalex Percentile: Top 6%
Digital Holography and Microscopy
3.74
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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