Digital image acquisition

Benefit description

The imaging system 'spImager' is a unique product for capturing and analyzing images of yeast and bacteria colonies or other biological samples. The imager is designed with one essential objective that is to capture images with excellent quality and repeatability. This involves a careful selection and design of the optics together with the lighting components, a very precise and rigid mechanical stage, and an enclosure that completely blocks the ambient light and at the same time provides a full access to the camera for optional adjustments. Moreover, the system provides maximum flexibility to the user in terms of choosing labware type (i.e., shape, size, etc.), setting lighting modes, adjusting the camera parameters and distance for taking regular or close-up images, and a list of add-on modules for different levels of usage. The hardware is accompanied and controlled by a userfriendly Windows-based software that provides a central place for adjusting all relevant parameters, reading barcode, remote shooting, automatic numbering and naming before storing, viewing and processing of the images. One time initial setup may be required to customize or optimize the system for a specific application. Any subsequent use of the system requires nothing but placing the sample plate on the holder and clicking a mouse button. The spImager software does the rest automatically.