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Synbiosis, a long-established, expert manufacturer of automated microbiological systems, is delighted to introduce the ProtoCOL 3 HD, automated colony counting and zone measurement system.

The system with its sensitive new camera can generate high definition images of colonies and inhibition zones, making the ProtoCOL 3 HD ideal for vaccine and antibiotic development laboratories.

ProtoCOL 3 HD, the newest addition to the highly acclaimed ProtoCOL 3 automated colony counting and inhibition zone measurement range, features a compact light-tight cabinet, housing patented three colour LED lighting and a super-high 5-megapixel CCD camera integrated to user-friendly software. At the press of a button, this new system allows microbiologists to automatically read plates to detect colonies as small as 43µm and measure zones with an average accuracy of more than 99.9%, making the ProtoCOL 3 HD a must-have for vaccine potency and antibiotic testing laboratories wanting to optimise the accuracy of their zone and count data.

With the ProtoCOL 3 software, microbiologists can read plates of up to 150 mm diameter and optimise batch design for each plate type. The software includes as standard, an Inhibition Zone Measurement module to measure the diameter of inhibition zones for applications including Single Radial Immunodiffusion (SRD) and a Pour Plate module for counting colonies on pour, settle and spread plates. All the data generated can be easily exported into a spreadsheet (Excel/OpenOffice) or the optional UNISTAT statistics package for analysis or transferred to a LIMS. The software is 21 CFR Part 11 compliant with user access levels and a full audit trail, making ProtoCOL 3 HD suited for use in highly regulated microbiology laboratories.

For greater flexibility, microbiologists can add zone measurement modules such as eAST,for use with antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) plates in accordance with EUCAST and CLSI guidelines and Minimum Inhibition Concentration (MIC) for reading zones around MIC strips. There are also specialised colony counting options such as the AMES test, SBA (serum bactericidal assay) and OPKA (opsonophagocytic killing assay) to cost-effectively customise the ProtoCOL 3 HD to suit any microbiology laboratory’s needs.

All the ProtoCOL 3 software modules can be run on any desktop or laptop by connecting the ProtoCOL 3 HD via a USB or users can choose the ProtoCOL HD PLUS system which comes with a mounted touch-screen PC and is perfect in a laboratory with limited bench space.

“Our ProtoCOL systems have been successfully used by all the major global pharmaceutical and biotech companies for many years”, comments Kate George, Sales & Technical Director at Synbiosis, “By adding the latest in imaging and software to our new ProtoCOL 3 HD, microbiologists can generate robust, reproducible, and more critically, fully traceable results. This means our third generation ProtoCOL remains the intelligent choice for highly regulated laboratories developing vaccines and antibiotics.”

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