Solentim demonstrated the advanced capabilities of Cell Metric, its cell imaging and analysis instrument, at the 22nd European Society for Animal Cell Technology (ESACT) conference.
Engineered to provide a high-throughput workflow solution to screen for colonies from single-cell cloning experiments, Cell Metric uses proprietary non-image-based focusing to find and locate all possible colonies by imaging the whole well, right up to the edge.
The platform provides complete and accurate cell measurements, without removing the cells from the culture plate and without the addition of stains and dyes.
This ensures that cells are suitable for use in downstream experiments.
With the ability to identify every healthy, viable cell clone from large multi-well screening projects and to track the visual history of the colonies back to single cells, the Cell Metric system is claimed to deliver a good return on investment.
The proprietary imaging technology incorporated in the Cell Metric system overcomes the problems of shadowing and edge effects associated with current imagers.
Dr Ian Taylor of Solentim Sales and Marketing said: 'Colonies often tend to form around the edge of the wells.
'Researchers have told us that they are missing 10-20 per cent of their potentially high-value clones when using existing technologies.
'The Solentim Cell Metric platform is specifically designed to meet these problems head-on and ensures that these colonies are not missed,' he added.
Cell Metric is programmed to provide real-time, user-defined metrics on the cell number, confluence or density, colony count and variations in cell morphology, including viability and mitotic index, and can rapidly process samples in lidded six-, 12-, 24-, 96- or 384-well microplates.
According to the company, linking the Cell Metric system with a robotic arm and plate stacker provides a complete walk-away solution, with environmental control for large plate numbers and multi-user projects, or where longer-term growth and kinetic studies are required.
