Why use imaging cytometry?
What does "looking at cells" mean?
The originally Greek “cytometry” just means “cell measurement”. Which can quite nicely be done by “looking at cells”. Imaging Cytometry counts and measures cells by - you guessed it - imaging. This may seem unusual, as many people associate cytometry necessarily with flow based analytical systems, as it has been the norm for half a century now. And yes, those flow based methods are still very good for certain purposes, e.g. if you have very high numbers of cells, need to do sorting, or use very small cells like bacteria. However, with the last decade´s progress in computing power and image analysis, cytometry by imaging has shown specific benefits in many areas of cell quantitation and cell based assays. And modern 3D applications are just one example.
The imaging cytometry approach comes with some tangible benefits. Imagine you want to count the trees in a forest. You can chop them off, throw them in the river, and count them as they flow by somewhere downstream. Or you look at the forest from above and count the trees as they stand. In addition to their number you´ll also learn things about their arrangement in their neighborhood. And they stay alive! That´s what imaging cytometry offers for cells. In many cases this can even replace flow based experiments and leads to substantial savings in time and materials, and sometimes it is just complementary.
Over the past decade we have put together a portfolio of image based cytometry equipment of highest quality, suited for different aspects of cell biology research, development, and quality control. And with the experience accumulated in our team over that time we can make sure you get the right imaging cytometry tool for your applications and the adequate training and support.
Just try „looking at cells“ with us!
- work with small sample volumes and no delay volumes
- have little to no daily maintenance, cleaning, or calibration of your cytometry system
- get results with or without fluorescent labellings
- work with suspension as well as with adherent cells, and without trypsination
- and, last but not least, in many cases look at the very same cells again tomorrow and learn what´s going on over time.
- every signal is connected to an image which allows for a quick plausibility check, even retrospectively
- values and images are always connected and documented for later reference
- cytometric Information on 3-D cellular structures such as organoids and spheroids becomes available
- modern and user friendly software solutions allow you to extract data from these images in reasonable times, and your expertise can be your cells rather than cytometry or imaging
According to the different requirements in complexity of samples, questions, assays, and image resolution we offer a range of premium quality image based cytometry products.