For the first time the vast majority of microarray images can be analysed reliably and consistently without any user intervention
Koada Technology has released v2.4 of Koadarray, its software for automated analysis and quantification of array images.
"Koadarray represents a significant step forward in fully automated microarray image analysis" said Roland Howe, founder of Koada Technology.
"For the first time the vast majority of microarray images can be analysed reliably and consistently without any user intervention.
"Other programs claim this, but unlike Koadarray they really don't deliver with real-world images.
"Another critical difference is that in the few poor quality images where Koadarray is unable to find all the spots, it is consistently able to recognise this and warn the user".
Koadarray's key advantages are given as:.
Fully automatic spot finding - no need to define spot or grid dimensions.
Sophisticated spot quantification - with artefact removal and accurate background subtraction.
Reliable spot confidence index - visualised on-screen by spot circle colour.
Unattended multiple image analyses - just select a list of files and walk away.
Extremely easy to use - to analyse an image just set the number of spots and blocks and click one button.
Configurable text data output - including spot and array quality parameters and spot/gene IDs.
Roland Howe also pointed out that "Eliminating user intervention is not just a matter of saving time and effort, it is also critical for producing unbiased and objective data.
"If users have to make decisions about spot quality or data inclusion then the overall data output can vary between users and from day to day".
Koadarray v2.4 contains a number of improvements, the most notable of which is that the confidence index for each spot is now represented on-screen by the colour of the circle around the spot.
The colour varies from red (low confidence) to blue (high confidence), giving the user immediate feedback about the quality of the array.
"The Koadarray confidence index already provided users with an objective value that really represents the confidence level that they would intuitively allocate to spots", continued Howe, "and now these can be visualised across the whole array at a glance".
Further information and free download of a 30-day evaluation version of Koadarray can be found online.
