The Hamilton VisiFerm DO₂ Arc Sensor in detail.
The VisiFerm DO₂ is the dissolved oxygen optical working tool of the Hamilton Arc sensor family. The sensor head contains an oxygen-sensitive luminophore: blue light excites the molecule, which returns to its ground state and emits red light—and oxygen in the medium quenches part of this energy transfer. The DO measurement is the ratio between excitation (blue) and emission (red)—fast, clean, and free from the electrolyte chemistry that characterizes polarographic alternatives. Arc Intelligence brings the other half of the story: a microprocessor integrated directly into the sensor body replaces the external transmitter, so calibration data, run history, and configuration remain with the sensor at all times. The sensor reads via either 4–20 mA, Modbus RTU, or digital protocols—depending on the configuration.
Experience and quality in every detail.
The VisiFerm DO₂ is developed by Hamilton Process Analytics —the global reference provider of industrial process sensors for pharmaceuticals, food, brewing, and biotechnology, with decades of proven performance in regulated and unregulated environments. The reason VisiFerm appears throughout the Applikon catalog is its design-level integration: the Applikon controllers Livit Flex, ez2-Control, my-Control, in-Control, and SUB-Control One natively support full Hamilton Arc sensor connectivity. Activate the Arc driver in the controller software, connect the sensor, and configuration, calibration, and troubleshooting are all handled through the familiar Applikon interface—no second software stack, no separate transmitter cabinet, no integration project.
Easy operation with professional process control.
Optical dissolved oxygen measurement is not just a different technology — it’s a different operating profile. The VisiFerm DO₂ inherits seven specific advantages from the optical principle. It is insensitive to CO₂ fouling, a common failure mode of polarographic DO probes in high-cell-density mammalian cultures, and insensitive to poisons such as H₂S and ammonia, relevant for fermentation chemistry that historically required dedicated probes. Maintenance comes down to a single spare part — removing the cap and putting it back on, rather than rebuilding an electrochemical unit. There is no electrolyte that could contaminate the process, relevant for regulated and high-purity workflows, and measurement is flow-independent, so values remain precise whether stirring is high, low or paused. The probe is stable against pressure surges, surviving autoclaving and SIP cycles without calibration drift, and supports invertible installation, opening up vessel geometries that polarographic probes cannot serve.
For high-cell-density cell cultures, demanding fermentation broths, single-use bioreactors, autoclavable laboratory vessels and continuous perfusion processes, the VisiFerm DO₂ eliminates most of the recurring DO-probe problems that the polarographic generation has made operators accustomed to.
One sensor across the Applikon family
The VisiFerm DO₂ is sized and supported to read into every Applikon bioreactor and controller in the Resea Biotec range.
At lab scale.
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1
Applikon Autoclavable Glass Bioreactor (2 – 20 L) for process development.
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2
AppliFlex ST (2 L – 15 L) single-use stirred-tank.
At bench and pilot scale.
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1
BioBench (20 – 30 L) for cGMP-grade development.
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2
BioPilot (30 – 270 L) for clinical and small-commercial production.
The Visiferm sensor is with the Arc protocol compatible with every Applikon controller in our range — Livit Flex, ez2-Control, my-Control and in-Control. Process knowledge built at the bench transfers cleanly upward through the Applikon family without changing the sensor technology.
