Synbiosis, a manufacturer of automated microbiological systems, has unveiled its Protocol automated colony counter for fast, accurate testing of pneumococcal vaccines.
Protocol achieves this by using an opsonophagocytic-killing assay (OPKA).
The counter now has a high-resolution charged-coupled device (CCD) camera that can detect white- or red-coloured S.pneumoniae colonies (down to 0.08mm in size), which is produced post OPKA assay.
The system's software has been upgraded to include a colony separation tool, which microbiologists can apply to OPKA assay plates to separate touching colonies.
This combination is said to ensure that microbiologists can achieve accurate counting results in seconds, even when analysing large numbers of small colonies clustered together.
The system's novel software allows users to save their plate template settings and their results can be automatically transferred into Microsoft Excel, where a vaccine's name can be recorded.
These additions to the software are intended to reduce setup time for future batches and also eliminate variations that can occur when different users perform manual colony counts.
An image library is also created alongside the database, helping to allow regulatory inspectors to see an accurate colour picture of the original OPKA assay plate months or years after its disposal.
The Protocol software is GLP compliant and can be integrated into a CF21 part 11 environment, which means that the system can be used in a vaccine research or manufacturing setting.
Martin Smith of Synbiosis said: 'OPKA assays often generate closely clustered S.pneumoniae colonies that are smaller than a pinhead and are extremely difficult to count manually.
'This system will significantly increase productivity without increasing staff costs, making the Protocol colony counter an essential part of any biotech or pharma company's pneumococcal vaccine testing programmes,' he added.
