Evaluation of an automated colony counter.
An automated colony counter was found to readily detect surface and subsurface bacterial colonies of 0.3-mm size or greater with a high degree of precision. On a logarithmic scale, counting efficiency consistently ranged from 89 to 95% of corresponding manual count determinations for plates containing up to 1,000 colonies. In routine application, however, automated plate counts up to approximately 400 colonies were selected as a more practical range for operation. The automated counter was easily interfaced with an automated data acquisition system.
D001331:Automation; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D002452:Cell Count / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000254:growth & development; D008722:Methods; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000254:growth & development