Colony counting and inhibition zone measuring instrument

I. Product Introduction: This product is a colony counting and inhibition zone measurement instrument integrating image acquisition, data processing, and statistical analysis. It is widely used in food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, environmental monitoring, medical and health, and scientific research fields. The instrument adopts advanced digital image processing technology and features fluorescent bacteria identification, inhibition zone measurement, potency determination, and sterilization functions. It can quickly and accurately complete the measurement and analysis of colonies in petri dishes, inhibition zone measurement, and antibiotic potency determination, significantly improving experimental efficiency and effectively reducing human error.

II. Performance Indicators

1. Imaging Device

Fully enclosed darkroom design effectively eliminates external stray light interference.

Equipped with a 360° ring-shaped four-color LED visible light source for shadowless soft lighting.

Built-in 254nm UV lamp for sterilization of the chamber.

Built-in 366nm UV lamp to excite colony fluorescence, meeting the needs of Escherichia coli counting and green fluorescent protein observation.

★Upper and lower light source brightness and on/off control can be directly adjusted via software, eliminating the need for mechanical switches.

★Light source schemes can be saved and historical schemes can be directly recalled without repeated settings.

25MP ultra-high-definition color camera

12MP 12mm high-definition lens

★Smallest detectable colony size: 0.05mm

★Counting accuracy: ≥98%

★Counting time: 1200 CFU/s

Plate types: Pour, spread, membrane filter, 3M paper discs

Compatible petri dish diameter: Standard 90–110 mm; smaller petri dishes can be measured by placing them in the center of the aperture.

2. Software Functions

2.1 Colony Analysis Software

1) One-Click Counting of 10 Classification Modes:

Dispersed Bacteria One-Click Counting: Quickly counts colonies with relatively clear edges and dispersed distribution.

Adhesive Bacteria One-Click Counting: Suitable for quick counting of colonies with a single background color, adhering colonies, and blurred edges.

Micro Bacteria One-Click Counting: Suitable for quick counting of micro colonies with a diameter of 0.1mm-0.5mm.

Large Colonies One-Click Counting: Suitable for quick counting of micro colonies with a diameter greater than 2mm.

3M (PetriFilm™) One-Click Counting: Quickly counts colonies growing on 3M paper.

Black Grid (CompactDry™) One-Click Counting: Quickly counts colonies growing on black solid-line paper.

Grid Filter Membrane (RIDA™) One-Click Counting: Quickly counts colonies growing on filter membrane paper.

Background Similar Bacteria One-Click Counting: Suitable for quick counting of colonies with a color similar to the culture medium color.

Single-Color Bacteria One-Click Counting: Selects single-color or multi-color colonies. Quick Statistical Analysis for a Single Color

One-Click Counting of Multicolor Bacteria: Multiple clicks on the target colony automatically extract the corresponding color, automatically segmenting all colonies of the same color within the selected area. Suitable for statistical analysis of specific color colonies among multicolor bacteria.

2) Auxiliary Statistical Tools

Manual Correction: Double-clicking adds or deletes missed colonies; selecting a box adds or deletes missed colonies.

Intelligent Correction: Intelligent correction is available based on one-click statistics.

Measurement Tools: Angle, line segment, area, curve

Contaminant (Impurity) Removal: Removes impurities based on color, diameter, and roundness.

Single Colony Morphology Analysis: Clicking on a single colony provides information such as roundness, diameter, circumference, and area.

All Colony Morphology: After statistics are completed, information such as roundness, diameter, circumference, and area of all colonies on the plate is available.

Colony Size Classification: After statistics are completed, colonies are classified into 25 categories based on their outline size.

Sample Colony Count Conversion: Automatic conversion is achieved based on the actual petri dish diameter and sample dilution.

2.2 Inhibition Zone Analysis Software

1) 1) Inhibition Zone Diameter Measurement

Automatic Detection: Precise edge detection based on the inhibition zone outline, suitable for well-defined, standard circular inhibition zones.

Perfect Circularity Detection: Circular fitting to a complete circle based on the inhibition zone outline, suitable for non-standard circular inhibition zones.

Manual Detection: Clicking three points on the edge of the inhibition zone with the mouse to form a circle, suitable for inhibition zones with blurred edges.

2) Antibiotic Potency Determination

Single-Dose Potency Determination: Suitable for the United States Pharmacopeia.

Two-Dose and Three-Dose Determination: Suitable for the Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2025 Edition.

3) Uniformity and Repeatability Testing

Repeatability Testing: Multiple diameter measurements using a standard plate. Relative error ≤ 0.01%, repeated measurement diameter error ≤ 0.001 mm.

Uniformity Testing: Rotating the standard plate 90° sequentially at the same inhibition zone position and performing four measurements. Relative error ≤ 0.01%

4) Auxiliary Statistical Tools

Annotation: Supports adding text, numbers, and other relevant information to images as needed.

Custom Calibration: Users can fine-tune calibration parameters according to the actual height of the agar.

Advanced Parameter Settings: Supports automatic removal of invalid inhibition zone detection data based on preset parameters.

3. Data Security and Management

Multi-user Account Management: The system supports independent login for multiple users, each account corresponding to its own independent data space, and all data is permanently and securely stored.

Data Output and Tamper-proofing: Detection and statistical results can be exported in PDF format; original detection data cannot be modified, ensuring data authenticity.

Audit Traceability: Built-in audit traceability function; the software can automatically record every step of the operator's operation, allowing for full traceability of the results data.

Bilingual Display Switching: The system has built-in Chinese and English bilingual display modes, supporting one-click quick switching.

Data Management: The instrument is equipped with a cloud platform service; analyzed detection data can be synchronously uploaded to cloud storage, allowing users to view data anytime, anywhere. 4. Light Source Management This series of fully automated colony counting and inhibition zone measuring instruments is equipped with a flexible upper and lower dual light source system. Users can freely adjust the light source through software to achieve optimal imaging results based on the type of petri dish, colony and inhibition zone characteristics, and background conditions. Specific functions include:

Independent Control: The upper and lower light sources can be turned on or off independently.

★Brightness Adjustment: No mechanical switches are required; the brightness of each light source can be independently and freely adjusted directly through software, supporting fine adjustments with an accuracy of up to 1%, precisely adapting to different contrast detection needs.

Mode Switching: Users can freely switch between multiple illumination modes such as "upper light only," "lower light only," and "both upper and lower lights on simultaneously."

★Scheme Saving: Supports custom scheme saving. Users can save the debugged light source combination (including the on/off status and brightness parameters of each light source) as a custom detection scheme. This scheme can be directly retrieved when detecting similar samples later, eliminating the need for repeated settings, significantly improving work efficiency, and effectively ensuring the consistency of test results.

5. Calibration Function To ensure the accuracy of measurement results, this series of fully automatic colony counting and inhibition zone measuring instruments is equipped with a reliable dimensional calibration function. This function accurately converts pixel units in the image into actual physical dimensions (mm), thus guaranteeing the accuracy of colony and inhibition zone diameter measurement data. This function offers two modes: automatic calibration (based on camera parameters) and manual calibration (colon counting uses a ruler, inhibition zone measurement uses a standard plate), to meet the needs of different users and scenarios.