Frederick, MD: Synbiosis, a world-leading manufacturer of automated micro-
biological systems, has launched its new ProtoCOL 2 system for rapid, accurate
automated colony counting and zone measurement.
The ProtoCOL 2 is an ergonomically designed imaging unit with dark screens to
eliminate ambient light effects and improve imaging results. The unit contains a
high resolution camera and red, blue and green LED lighting (patent pending)
integrated to a processor and software. The software is accessed via a touch
screen monitor sitting above the unit and features on screen commands, allowing
users to intuitively set their system up in minutes. These settings can be saved to
make analyzing the same plate types at a later date, a quick one touch process.
The ProtoCOL 2 system’s unique lighting method illuminates the plates in three
different colors. The system’s camera captures each image and integrates them
in seconds to generate high definition, life-like images. This enables precise
counts of difficult to see colonies and accurate measurements of zones with
indistinct edges.
The results can be downloaded to a memory stick via the USB ports on the
ProtoCOL 2. Alternatively, the system can easily be connected to a PC network
allowing users to capture, print and save full color images or download numerical
data to Excel. The GLP compliant ProtoCOL 2 software can be integrated into a
21 CFR Part 11 environment and is modular so users can cost-effectively
customize their system to include the colony counting or zone sizing analysis
programs which suit them.