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PRODUCT
OVERVIEW
GelCount™
is an integrated, dedicated colony counter for processing
tumour colony forming assays. GelCount is conceived
to rapidly and accurately count as well as characterize
mammalian cell colonies. Colonies can be adherent (stained),
or non-adherent in 3-D semi-solid matrices such as soft
agar or spheroids in suspension. Non-adherent cell colonies
do not typically require staining.
Single,
integrated platform for objective colony counting
GelCount is conceived specifically to permit the user
to go from colony samples to colony counts and statistics
at the click of a button. Colonies are imaged, images
transferred, processed and characterized and the data
collated/exported from within a single, integrated hardware/software
platform. Gone is the need to manually count colonies
or the unsatisfactory alternative of imaging samples
on one device, then transferring these to and processing
them within an independent, compromised image analysis
package.
Furthermore, the integrated approach also permits the
archiving to disk of raw colony images, in support of
full-functionality ‘off-line’ processing/re-processing
even where the original samples are no longer available.
GelCount is a cost effective and reliable solution to
the problem of counting colonies manually. It not only
has a dramatic effect on counting throughput but its
inherent objectivity and consistency eliminates human
error due to subjective interpretation, bias or plain
fatigue - a particularly acute problem when manually
counting under a microscope.
Single-pass
imaging and intuitive software featuring ‘CHARM
II’ algorithm
Using high depth-of-field scanning technology capable
of single-pass, high-resolution imaging, combined with
a convenient sample-loading mechanism and a dedicated
algorithm developed at Oxford Optronix, GelCount provides
unsurpassed colony detection performance including resolution
of overlapping colonies and differentiation of real
colonies from debris or other artifacts, all within
a powerful yet user-friendly and intuitive software
user interface.
Importantly, the user is offered extensive control over
the inclusion or exclusion of colonies based on colony
size and colony shape-related parameters, as well as
over general object detection sensitivity.
Flexible
and versatile, yet powerful
GelCount is suitable for the counting and analysis of
classic adherent colonies, of non-adherent ('3-D') colonies
in semi-solid media such as soft agar, methylcellulose
etc, and of spheroids in suspension cultures. Furthermore,
non-adherent colonies or spheroids in suspension do
not generally require staining.
GelCount’s data output is not restricted to mere
colony counts per well or dish; it additionally provides
potentially valuable statistical outputs such as colony
diameter, theoretical colony volume and ‘distance-to-nearest
neighbour’ parameters. These can be output as
averages, distributions and even as raw 'per colony'
data, providing unparalleled data extraction from every
plate, Petri dish or flask.
At the touch of a button, GelCount can also preview
these data in the form of histograms, providing the
user with hitherto unavailable information relating
to colony growth dynamics.
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