FlowCam^® - Flow Imaging Microscopy Blog

Hunting Energy Services (HES), Subsea Technologies Division, is a manufacturer of subsea hydraulic products for the oil and gas industry. Their suite of hydraulic valve products includes applications for drilling control, production control, and Intervention Workover Control Systems (IWOCS).

Cell-based medicinal products (CBMPs) are gaining importance as therapeutic treatments for many life-threatening diseases. This study was designed to develop a method to characterize CBMPs using flow imaging microscopy (FIM) for the detection, quantification, and characterization of subvisible particulate impurities.  Recently, FIM has been applied to study cell viability and confluency in cell culture as well as quality of CBMPs. Comprehensive particle characterization can be limited when using the morphological parameters derived from the embedded software due to the complexity of CBMPs, which may consist of multiple particulate populations of highly heterogeneous morphologies.

Yokogawa Fluid Imaging Technologies' distributor to India's Biopharmaceutical market is Bioscreen Instruments. Bioscreen's Field Application Specialist, Jamuna Yadhav, shared with us the following testimonial and case study about their experience using the FlowCam to analyze injectable drug samples.

We were recently honored to be included in the video below, featuring us alongside other international companies that use imaging to further science and technology. Take a look!

VisualSpreadsheet 5 image analysis software (ViSp 5) represents a new platform for FlowCam data organization. Introduced in 2019, our upgraded software moves away from a simple hierarchy of folders and instead utilizes a database structure.

Biopharma labs working in drug development will be excited to learn about the module for fully-integrated compliance with 21 CFR Part 11 regulations mandated by the US FDA.

What CAN'T be run through the FlowCam? The list below shows the majority of substances that have been imaged and analyzed on the FlowCam over the course of our 20 year history. Is your application on the list? If not, send us a sample, and we'll add it! Keep reading below to learn more about some of our favorite applications.

We use our Flow Imaging Microscopy blog as a platform to bring you relevant news and academic research, as well as highlighting developments and new uses of FlowCam technology. This year we published 68 blog posts on a large variety of subjects. Keep reading to see the countdown to the most popular post of 2019.

Based on proven FlowCam^® technology, the FlowCam Cyano automatically identifies cyanobacteria from other algae and particles in aquatic samples. Using a patent-pending combination of excitation wavelength, phycocyanin fluorescence measurement, and image recognition software, the system automates what was previously done using manual microscopy. After differentiating the cyanobacteria from the other algae in the sample, VisualSpreadsheet and Advanced Classifier software can be used to further characterize specific types of algae found in the sample using 40+ physical parameters. 

Keep reading to view our new video and see the inner workings of the FlowCam Cyano, as well as a detailed demonstration of VisualSpreadsheet's automated classification process.

FlowCam customers frequently ask us how to optimize analysis of Microcystis, a globally pervasive colonial cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) which is seen in source water systems and recreational lakes. The colonies can range in size from a few microns up to several thousand microns in diameter. Customers are concerned about losing part of the sample or not being able to capture a quality image due to the colony’s size and density. Dense colonies superimpose cells in the image, making it easy to underestimate cell counts, while large colonies can make it challenging to determine what objective is best used to image the sample.

Question:  What protocol does Fluid Imaging recommend to analyze colonies and scums of Microcystis?

When considering how to characterize your subvisible particles for food and beverage production it's important to be able to see the images of different particle types.