Color Qcount FAQ's

Q1: What is Color QCount?A1. Color 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 Color QCount discriminate between color and size?A2. Color 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 Color QCount?
A3. Color 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 Color QCount.

Q4: How does the Color QCount compare to hand counting?
A4. A recent study demonstrated that Color 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. Color 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 Color QCount?
A5. Color 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, Color QCount can conservatively process 300 to 400 plates per hour.

Q6: Can I manually edit the colonies being counted by Color 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. Color 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 Color QCount can detect?
A9. A minimum colony detection size of 0.1 mm.

Q10: How does Color 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 Color QCount read?
A11. Color 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. Color QCount can count plates prepared by all standard plating methods (pour, spread, and spiral).

Q13: Does Color QCount read "SGE" plates?
A13. No. Presently Color 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 Color 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 Color 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 Color QCount database.

Q15: Can I manage my hand-counted plates with Color 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.