FlowCam - Flow Imaging Microscopy Blog

A research group with CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography in Kochi, India (https://www.nio.org/), has used the FlowCam^® to provide new evidence that temporal changes in the coastal waters of the Southeastern Arabian Sea (SEAS) cause size and structure changes in micro-plankton communities. Nutrient-rich coastal areas typically produce large-sized phytoplankton, and nutrient-depleted waters tend to produce smaller phytoplankton. These variations in plankton size can impact the food web, and therefore the economics of the area, where fishing is an important socioeconomic activity. 

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.

It's hard to imagine a more picturesque location from which to perform one's research than Sanibel Island, Florida. However, as can be seen in the picture at the right, our most beautiful places are not exempt from the effects of climate change. Pictured here is what is commonly known as "red tide", but to Dr. Eric Milbrandt and the researchers at the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) is known to be an algal bloom caused by the phytoplankton Karenina brevis.

Contaminates in stormwater runoff that feed into our waterways are a leading cause of environmental pollution. Hydro International (a UK company with a local facility just down the road from Fluid Imaging in Portland, Maine) analyzes the content of stormwater and wastewater in order to provide solutions that
prevent contamination utilizing machinery, cleansers, and filters.

In exciting recent news, Fluid Imaging has entered into an exclusive research agreement with the University of Colorado Boulder to begin a study into the possibilities of automated identification of certain bacterial species, headed by Dr. Theodore Randolph. This study has potentially life-saving implications if proven successful.

Pictured above: Dr. Randolph with his FlowCam at the University of Colorado

University of Colorado PhD student, Vaida Linkuviene, along with Fluid Imaging Applications Scientist, Heather Anne Wright, and Co-Director of the Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at the University of Colorado, John Carpenter, recently presented a poster at the 2019 Colorado Protein Stability Conference, at which Fluid Imaging has long been a participant. Vaida has been working with the FlowCam to assess the effects mechanical stress on protein formulations in syringes.

Pictured here: Vaida with her poster "Effects of transportation of syringes containing protein formulations through a hospital pneumatic tube system: Particle characterization by multiple methods"

Earlier this month, Harry Nelson traveled to Kuwait to train employees of KISR (Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research) on their new FlowCam Macro, and their 2012 FlowCam VS4. Dr. Rakhesh Madhusoodhanan and his colleagues at the Oceanography Research Group are very excited to expand their research with the use of their new FlowCam. 

On Friday our team welcomed a visit from Professor Natasha Barteneva from Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan. Several years ago, Dr. Barteneva approached us with interest in setting up a Flow Cytometry laboratory for Nazarbayev University. With her unique position as a research scientist at Harvard University and Faculty Professor at Nazarbayev, she facilitated a grant for their university.  The rest, as we say, is FlowCam history.

In the Austral Summer of 2018-2019 a Norwegian research group aboard the RV Kronprins Haakon, an ice-breaking polar research vessel, traveled to the Antarctic on a research mission with two objectives: 1) to update the estimate of biomass and distribution of krill off the coast of West Antarctica and 2) to become educated on the marine environment in this area for the purpose of implementing a Feed-Back Management (FBM) system, allowing fishery managers to set catch limits based on current ecosystem health.

March 2019 — Harmful algal bloom (HAB) season is fast approaching. The City of Wichita Falls, Texas, however, has developed an integrated approach to monitor HABs that has prevented taste and odor events for the past two years.  Featured in the December 2018 issue of OpFlow, and now in the Jan/Feb 2019 issue of Texas H2O, the City of Wichita Falls shares its integrated approach to answer the following questions: