Qcount FAQ's

Q1: What is QCount™?A1. Qcount combines a high-resolution CCD video camera, specialized lighting, and contour-analysis software into a system that counts microbial colonies on plates with exceptional ease and accuracy.

Q2: Can QCount discriminate between color and size?A2. QCount™ features proprietary contour analysis software, which has the ability to very accurately analyze colony size; thereby making it possible to include and exclude specific colony sizes in the count of individual plates.

Q3: Does ambient light affect the QCount?
A3. QCount™ has a patented lighting system which eliminates the shadows and ambient light interference that has created problems for previous camera-based colony counters. There is no need to dim room lights or make other adjustments to ambient lighting when using QCount™.

Q4: How does the QCount compare to hand counting?
A4. A recent study demonstrated that QCount™ performed within 0.1 log of the corresponding manual (hand) count over 95% of the time. This study included overall plate counts of pour, spread, and spiral plates, using multiple media/microbe combinations. QCount™ demonstrated a 0.1 log degree of accuracy 99% of the time for spread plates and between 0.1 and 0.2 log for pour plates 100% of the time. (Study available upon request.)

Q5: How "fast" is QCount?
A5. QCount™ requires less than 2 seconds to capture and calculate a standard 100mm agar plate. Allowing an additional 5-10 seconds for the operator to review each plate and make any desired edits, QCount™ can conservatively process 300 to 400 plates per hour.

Q6: Can I manually edit the colonies being counted by QCount™?
A6. Yes. The image of each plate is saved in a database and can be printed or re-analyzed at any time. Colonies can be added or deleted manually; colony-forming unit data is then recalculated and flagged to note the manual editing

Q7: Do I have to set thresholds or making time-consuming adjustments before counting each plate?
A7. Background (agar) color is automatically determined and "zeroed" (or thresholded), eliminating any loss of productivity due to pre-analytical setup. All parameters can be manually adjusted if desired, but the system is optimized for most commonly encountered media/microbe combinations, which usually require "one-click operation".

Q8: Are there any standard maintenance procedures?
A8. No. QCount™ operation is very simple and requires no routine maintenance. The only daily maintenance required is to keep the "stage" area clean.

Q9: What is the smallest colony size that QCount™ can detect?
A9. A minimum colony detection size of 0.1 mm.

Q10: How does QCount™ distinguish between overlapping colonies?
A10. Specialized (patent pending) contour analysis detects colonies by examining the subtle shifts in tone within a colony or colony cluster to determine peaks. In this way, colonies within a cluster can be accurately detected and marked.

Q11: What media and microbe combinations can QCount™ read?
A11. QCount™ has been carefully engineered to allow the system to read light or dark colonies on transparent, colored, or opaque agars. Multiple lighting options are available to optimize performance.

Q12: Can I only count "spiral" plates?
A12. No. QCount™ can count plates prepared by all standard plating methods (pour, spread, and spiral).

Q13: Does QCount read "SGE" plates?
A13. No. Presently QCount™ is not programmed to count Spiral Gradient End-point (SGE) plates. This functionality is anticipated in the future - please ask for further details.

Q14: How can I manage data on QCount?
A14. Your data are GLP-compliant and stored in an integral database to satisfy any regulatory or auditing requirement. All data is saved directly to an Excel spreadsheet or can be archived to CD-ROM using the system's included CD-RW drive. You can easily "drag-'n'-drop" information from Qcount's MS-Office 2000 compliant format into any standard word processor or spreadsheeting program. Also, you can do the same with plate images stored within the QCount™ database.

Q15: Can I manage my hand-counted plates with QCount™?
A15. Yes. Numerical data for hand-counted plates can be entered into the software database. Additionally, Cfu/ml values are conveniently calculated for spiral plates that are counted with the specialized hand-counting grid.