Analysing plates as a part of a serial dilution is commonplace in the microbiology laboratory. When a pure sample has too many colonies or growths present to produce a viable count, performing a series of dilutions is important in determining an estimate for the concentration of an unknown sample. Different laboratories will run dilution series in a variety of ways. For this reason, Synbiosis has created a specific Dilution Series software application that has the flexibility to suit your needs.

Counting the colonies on the plates uses the same algorithm for analysis as we use on the Pour Plate module, guaranteeing consistency of your results across all applications. The algorithm can be altered by adjusting the sensitivity, rejecting particles below a certain size and choosing to split touching colonies or not, allowing use for counting bacteria, moulds, and fungi across all types of agar, making our Synbiosis software suitable for any workplace.

The module comes with preset suggested dilutions, and it is very straightforward to add your dilution values, which are then saved for easy access in the future. This dilution list can easily be moved around and edited at any time during a batch for ultimate flexibility when analysing your plates throughout your batch. When you finish processing your plates, our software has specific customisable reports for the dilution series module, which can be produced in Excel, PDF, or CSV format and linked to your LIMS.

Plates can be easily edited using our bespoke ‘Edit/Review’ function, allowing you to make any adjustments to the plates if required. These changes are all tracked in audit trails within the software, alongside log-ins, permissions changes, and other features, with the ability to produce this data into reports. These features are imperative in making our device and software suitable for use in a 21 CFR Part 11-compliant environment.