Speeding up High Content Screening

TTP LabTech’s Acumen eX3 is the fastest imaging system available for cell-based screening. It collects and simultaneously analyses over 40 images/second, covering every cell in the entire well area, without the trade-off of having to use lower resolution. Acumen is well established for high-content screening, but researchers have recently applied its large field of view to rapidly analyse complex cellular or animal models, such as angiogenic tube formation, C. elegans or drosophila larvae.

In addition to its built in software, Acumen offers the flexibility of simultaneously exporting whole well 8- or 16- bit TIFF images. These images are open source files and can be used for batch processing by a large range of third party image analysis software. Acumen can be used in cytometry mode to provide a rapid primary screen of compounds or RNAis whilst exporting TIFF files for subsequent secondary analysis/hit confirmation studies using image analysis packages, without the requirement to have to prepare a new set of plates.

This new screening paradigm represents a major breakthrough in how microplate cytometers can be applied to complex cellular models since rapid cytometric analysis can now be combined with image-processing methodology.