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Justin Croft, MSc
Scintica Instrumentation
Phone: +226-919-9135
Jcroft@scintica.com
Automated Colony
Counting: New Methods
Can Save Researchers
Time and Cost
Justin Croft, MSc
Scintica Instrumentation
Phone: +226-919-9135
Jcroft@scintica.com
Automated Colony
Counting: New Methods
Can Save Researchers
Time and Cost
• Background of colony counting assays
• Challenges with the manual counting methods
• Moving forward: Automated colony counting assays
• Real-time automated colony counting example
Topics of Discussion
Importance of Colony Forming Cell Assay
• New discoveries and increasing complexity
• Novel approaches in diagnosis, prognosis and therapies
• Increasing number of variables
• “Gold standard” for cell viability
• 2D – adherent colony assay
• 3D – non-adherent colony assay
• Reflects natural environment
• Slower and less precise
Manual counting 2D and 3D assays
• Labour intensive
• 100’s to 1000’s of plates or
wells
• Staining
• Microscope needs
• Counting across the x, y and z
axis
Drawbacks of manual counting methods
• Difficult with 2D
• Even more challenging with 3D
(microscope needed)
• More complex and numerous assays
• Difficult with 2D
• Even more challenging with 3D
(microscope needed)
• More complex and numerous
assays
Drawbacks of manual counting methods
• Difficult with 2D
• Even more challenging with 3D
(microscope needed)
• More complex and numerous assays
• Error prone and resource intensive
• Single observer counting many
plates or wells
• Huge time and cost
• No calibration or standardization
• Lack of information
The way forward: Automated colony counting and image
analysis
• Efficient and cost-effective
• Reduce turnaround time
• Increased accuracy of counts
• Image acquisition and analysis
• Resolution of overlapping
colonies
• Distinguish colonies from
artifacts
The way forward: Automated colony counting and image
analysis
• Set thresholds for counts
• Based on colony size and
shape
• No need to stain
• Improved results in less time
Generating new data sets
• Additional qualitative and quantitate data
• Diameter or nearest neighbour
distance
• Mean per plate, histogram or
individual colony basis
• Extends the sensitivity of the
colony forming assay
Data capture and export
• Work on or off-line
• Allows for large scale trials or
collaborative research
• Full digital image archive
• Bitmap for lab documentation
• Raw format for processing
and re-processing
of samples
Reproducible Assays
• Same settings regardless of user
• Makes multi-site research possible
• Setting can be stored and re-used
• In single studies
• By other teams or personnel
Example of an Automated System: The
GelCount
Summary
• Compared 2D and 3D assays
• Challenges of counting manually
• Advantages of automated counting
• Time and cost
• More informative
• Consistent and reproducible
• GelCount software demo
Justin Croft, MSc
Scintica Instrumentation
Phone: 226-919-9135
Jcroft@scintica.com
Q&A
SESSION:
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Automated Colony Counting -  New Methods Can Save Researchers Time and Cost