Automated Cell Counter - an Overview

Automated cell counting has been on the rise for several years and is the current state of the art, at least in the industry. The reason behind this is due to the advantages of automated counting over the classical counting with a Neubauer chamber or Thoma chamber. On this page we try to give an overview of automated cell counting and present a comparison of counter suppliers. For those who want to buy a counter, we want to point out advantages and disadvantages and provide support in choosing a cell counter. Of course, we can only provide the information we receive from manufacturers and users. If you have had positive or negative experience with your counter, we are looking forward to your feedback or comments by mail or phone. Cell counting is an essential basis for controlling cellular growth via growth curves. For this reason, counting methods and automated cell counters are topics in our Cell Culture Basic Course and in the advanced training courses Cell Culture Bioassays and QM in Cell Culture.

Topic of this cell counter overview

Advantages of Automated Cell Counting

• Reproducible, person-independent and objective measurement
• Work simplification with a high sample throughput
• Additional measurement parameters such as size, aggregation factor and homogeneity of cells
• Automatic calculation of cell count/mL and % live cells
• Usually statistically better data because larger volumes of cell suspensions are counted
• Partial live/dead determination of cells without toxic trypan blue
• Depending on the instrument, combinations of different measurement methods such as fluorescence-labeled cells or trypan blue are possible
• Easy to validate

 Disadvantages of Automated Cell Counting

• High to medium investment costs 
• Maintenance costs
• Depending on device cheap to expensive consumables

Brief overview of cell counter manufactures and suppliers

Optical-based cell counters

Basically, the optical-based cell counters are small, automated microscopes optimized for the purpose. The cells are injected into a flow cell and evaluated with the aid of a digital camera and intelligent image evaluation software.

The devices available on the market differ fundamentally in their equipment. Classic chamber systems where the user can choose from different staining agents such as trypan blue (bright-field microscopy) and acridine orange/propidium iodide (AO/PI) for fluorescence microscopy are available on the market in a wide variety. In the meantime, there is also a device that uses holographic microscopy and thus completely dispenses with dyes. .

Bright-field Microscopy Cell Counter

These instruments use the classical method of cell counting. Here, the sample is mixed with trypan blue or erythrosin B and analyzed. Trypan blue stains dead cells because their cell membrane is permeable to the dye, while living cells are not stained. Since trypan blue is toxic to cells, living cells will also be stained if the sample is not analyzed within a certain time frame. Therefore, when selecting the cell counting instrument, it is important how quickly after mixing with trypan blue the sample is measured.

Fluorescence Microscopy Cell Counter

In principle, these systems function in exactly the same way as the chamber systems with trypan blue. However, the cells are stained with fluorescent dyes. This type of staining avoids the problem of false positive staining with trypan blue when the samples stand longer. Thus, one can prepare several samples, let them stand longer and then measure them.

If the instruments measure green fluorescence, they can of course also be used to measure transfection efficiencies and the like. However, this function is of course clearly reflected in the price. Therefore, you should only buy such a device if you regularly perform fluorescence measurements in addition to cell counting or if other measurement principles produce poor results with your own cells.

Impendance-based Counters