Automated UV/vis colony counter

Synbiosis has released a multi-application Protocol UV automated colony counting and zone measurement system. This can rapidly and accurately count colonies or image zones illuminated by UV or white light.

The system has a high-resolution camera inside a darkroom with built-in UV and white light, making it versatile enough to image fluorescing and visible colonies, as well as inhibition zones.

The system is easy to connect to a PC, allowing researchers to instantly capture, print and save accurate images in a BMP format. The images can then be used for archiving or analysis with Protocol v1.4 software, which is included with the system.

The darkroom can accommodate standard pour, spiral or surface inoculated plates, as well as large bioassay and single radial immunodiffusion plates. The darkroom has a sliding, auto-locking door (to prevent accidental UV exposure) and a filter drawer for scientists to add filters for visualising naturally fluorescing bacteria.