Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company

Scott D Morgan

Patrick A Mach

Thomas A Turgeon

Gary E Krejcarek

Robert A Braier

Automated incubating and imaging system for a disposable microorganism

A method and system for detecting and identifying microbial colonies in an inoculated growth medium first acquires a first image of the inoculated growth medium. After a selected incubation time interval, a second image of the growth medium is acquired. A difference image is produced by taking the difference between corresponding pixels in the first and second images. Potential colonies are identified within the difference image by locating peak pixels having local maximum pixel intensities within the difference image and having decreasing gradients in a predetermined number of directions. The potential colonies are validated as actual colonies by eliminating those potential colonies that are noise spikes or noise around previously validated colonies.

Method and apparatus for detecting and identifying microbial colonies

Changes in specified indicia of colony growth in the early stages of incubation are monitored to provide the early detection and enumeration of colonies in the growth medium. Data from images collected at different times is processed to enhance the detection of subtle changes in the specified indicia of colony growth and provide an early indication of the number of colonies present in the growth medium.

Growing community of inventors

Cottage Grove, MN, United States of America

Scott D Morgan