The UK manufacturer of automated microbiological systems says the ProtoCOL 3 is designed for flexibility and accuracy and can read plates of 30–150mm, detecting colonies as small as 43 microns and measuring zones to 0.1mm. Additionally, the system’s tri-colour imaging method performs challenging applications such as distinguishing grid lines on filters from colonies and counting black colonies on dark media.
The system is supplied with software for basic colony counts and zone measurements. IQ, OQ and PQ documentation is also available to allow the system to be integrated into a GMP environment.
ProtoCOL 3 can be supplied with a computer or users can use their own and simply install the ProtoCOL 3 software. For full statistical analysis, they can also add Synbiosis’s new European Pharmacopoeia/US Pharmacopeia-compatible software rapidly to obtain potency data from their zone measurements or colony count results.
Martin Smith of Synbiosis commented: ‘Microbiologists want accurate automation for detecting barely visible colonies and zones. They also want simple set-up, the flexibility to read large and small plates, as well as the capability to rapidly generate statistical analysis from their results using just one system. This is challenging, but our new ProtoCOL 3 meets all of these technical demands.’
