What does GelCount do?
GelCount™ is an integrated hardware and software platform that semi-automatically images multi-well plates or Petri dishes arising from colony forming assays and processes the images to yield a colony count as well additional parameters such as colony size distributions, all of which can be conveniently imported into Microsoft Excel.
What’s unique about GelCount?
GelCount™ is the first and only imaging system conceived specifically for the objective and reproducible detection, counting and analysis of non-adherent mammalian cell colonies in semi-solid media or suspension, an otherwise painstaking procedure carried out under a microscope.
How does GelCount work?
GelCount™ combines advanced, high-resolution / high depth-of-field CCD scanning hardware with a software-controlled sample loading mechanism that automatically sends images of colony samples to a PC via a USB2 bus. Image processing occurs via proprietary software residing on the PC incorporating a powerful, purpose-written ‘CHARM’-based algorithm.
What are the applications for GelCount?
GelCount™ will be of interest primarily to cancer biologists utilizing the colony forming assay to quantify the efficacy of anti-cancer drug candidates and other treatment regimes on cells in culture. Secondary applications for GelCount™ may include the cell proliferation assay, the invasion assay or bacterial and yeast colony counting applications.
Can GelCount be used for CFU / BFU stem cell colony counting and categorization?
No. GelCount™ will not reliably detect highly ‘diffuse’ colonies (e.g. classic CFU-G/M colonies) or highly irregular colonies (e.g. classic BFU-E colonies). The CHARM colony-detection algorithm is not conceived for colony typing based on colony ‘morphology’.
Is GelCount suited to counting adherent, stained colonies?
Yes! The GelCount™ is perfectly suited to imaging and accurately processing stained, adherent cell colonies on multi-well plates, Petri dishes and T25 flasks. For those familiar with its predecessor (the ColCount™), the GelCount™ provides almost 100% ‘backward compatibility’.
Do colonies in semi-solid media, or spheroids in suspension need to be stained?
Generally no, GelCount™ will normally detect unstained colonies very effectively. Performance may be enhanced in certain cases (e.g. high background, or very small colonies) by the use of MTT-based metabolic stains (these do not stain the medium; recommended protocols available on request).
Can GelCount be used to count bacterial and/or yeast cell colonies?
Yes. While not a primary application, GelCount™ can be used very successfully to image and count bacterial or yeast cell colonies on standard, non-opaque agar plates (example images available on request).
Is GelCount a cell counter?
Strictly speaking no. GelCount™ does not feature magnifying optics and was conceived to count colonies of typically 20 or more cells rather than individual cells. However, at its maximum resolution setting GelCount™ is capable of distinguishing individual adherent cells, provided they are well stained and discrete. Thus, under ideal conditions, GelCount™ may be useful for quantifying the output of cell proliferation assays (example images available on request).
Does GelCount allow inclusion/exclusion of colonies based on size or shape?
The software provides extensive user-optimization of colony detection parameters. Primarily this involves setting minimum and maximum colony diameter thresholds, colony shape parameters and overall sensitivity levels. Crucially, user-generated detection settings can be stored as templates and recalled during future counting sessions.
What is the minimum colony size GelCount can detect?
Depending on colony morphology (‘compactness’), spacing between colonies and background conditions, GelCount™ can readily detect colonies as small as 30 um in diameter at the maximum resolution setting.
With what culture-ware is GelCount compatible?
GelCount is compatible with 6-, 12-, 24-, 48- and 96-well plates (up to 4 plates of any one type may be imaged simultaneously), as well as with 35 mm (up to 24), 50 mm (up to 12) and 100 mm (up to 4) Petri dishes. GelCount is also compatible with certain T25 flasks.
How fast is GelCount and what throughput rates can be achieved?
Throughput is primarily limited by the speed of image acquisition, which in turn is a function of the chosen imaging resolution and plate/dish type. Typical processing time (image acquisition plus software processing) for four 6-well plates containing adherent, stained colonies is approximately 6 minutes (600 dpi imaging). Typical processing time for four 6-well plates containing non-adherent colonies in soft agar is approximately 12 minutes (1,200 dpi imaging). The worst case scenario is four 96-well plates imaged at maximum resolution (2,400 dpi), in which case total processing time is approx. 45 minutes.
Can GelCount analyze multiple samples simultaneously?
Yes! Up to four multi-well plates, up to four 100 mm Petri dishes, up to twelve 50 mm Petri dishes, or up to twenty-four 35 mm Petri dishes may be loaded and processed simultaneously.
Is GelCount compatible with a plate stacker or robotic loading system?
At the present time GelCount™ does not support ‘off-the-shelf’ stacker or robotic sample loading solutions.
Is GelCount compatible with macOS?
The GelCount™ operating software is only available for PC platforms. MacOS is NOT presently supported.
What is the recommended minimum PC specification for GelCount?
Minimum recommended PC specifications are: AMD or Intel dual/multi-core processor @ 2 GHz or above; 8 GB or above of system memory; discrete graphics accelerator with 512 MB or above (not required with processors featuring on-die GPU, e.g. desktop Intel® i3, i5, i7, or ‘APU’ processors by AMD); two spare USB2 ports; Windows® 7 or Windows® 10 operating systems. An installation of Microsoft® Excel® is required to support basic data output functionality.
Do you offer on-site demonstrations of GelCount?
Yes, depending on geographical location we will try to arrange for an on-site demonstration of our products by an experienced product specialist. Ideally this will involve imaging representative samples prepared by the user to maximise the benefit of the demonstration. On-site demonstrations are usually free of charge and can typically be arranged at 2 – 8 weeks notice. Alternatively, we also offer live screen-share/teleconference-based introductions and demonstrations, which can be arranged at shorter notice. An on-site product loan may also be considered. Please contact our sales team for further details.
