Bacteria Counter
Technical Overview & Principle of Operation
The BactoCount IBC is a fully automated instrument that uses a proprietary process based on flow cytometry ( FCM) for the rapid enumeration of individual bacteria in raw milk.
The milk is sampled and dispensed in a carousel heated at 50° C.
An incubation reagent made up with a clarification buffer, a proteolytic enzyme, and a fluorescent marker are then added in order to lyses the somatic cells, solubilize the fat globules and Proteins permeabilize the bacteria and stain their DNA.
The fluorescence marker intercalates rapidly and selectively into all the bacteria double-stranded nucleic acid.
The mixture is then sonicated during the incubation with two ultrasonic probes to help the chemical breakdown of the interfering particles, disrupt the remaining bacteria colonies to improve the detection of individual bacteria and reduce the background fluorescence.
After the incubation period a portion of the incubation mixture is transferred to the flow cytometer where the bacteria are aligned and exposed to an intense laser beam and fluoresce.
The fluorescence signal is collected by the optics, filtered, and detected with a photomultiplier.
The fluorescence pulses intensity and height are recorded and used as gating parameters.
The sorted pulses are then translated into individual bacteria count after instrument calibration. 

Bactocount IBC Specifications*
Measurement Range:	2000 to 10+ million individual bacteria/ml
Repeatability:	Sr < 0.06 (log)
Accuracy:	Sy,x < 0.25 (log)
Speed:	50 samples / hour - Model A 100 samples / hour - Model B 150 samples/ hour - Model C
Carryover:	< 1%
Work Factor:	< 100
Power Supply:	115/220 VAC
Dimensions:	Width: 152.4 cm Depth: 61.0 cm Height: 121.9 cm Weight: 115.0 kg
Fluid Use:	Milk intake: < 4.0 ml Milk volume incubated: 1.0 ml/test Sample temperature: 4 - 42°C Type of Samples: milk of typical composition