ImageXpress®^MICRO Automated Acquisition and Analysis System From Molecular Devices

While plate imaging technology has existed for years, innovations have been made in the field of automated acquisition and analysis. The California-based company Molecular Devices has emerged as a leader in such technologies with its previous acquisition of Axon Instruments and its line of ImageXpress® products. The ImageXpress® line ranges from the MICRO, an automated plate reading and analysis system, to the 5000A, a complete cell-growth, acquisition and analysis system. Every ImageXpress® system is essentially comprised of two parts: the acquisition machinery and the analysis program (MetaXpress Cellular Image Analysis Software).

The ImageXpress® acquisition device is about 3.5-feet by 2.5 feet in footprint, and can be moved by at least two people. Actual device a®nd software setup is relatively straightforward and involves a computer linked to the ImageXpress acquisition device, and possibly a separate high-powered computer running the MetaXpress analysis software. Because of the uncompressed high-resolution image format, users will need several gigabytes of storage space for normal use. Pre-operation involves configuring analysis and acquisition scripts; the comprehensive script wizard for the acquisition software includes such parameters such as light filters (FITC, Rhodamine, etc), exposure times, and many more investigation-essential factors. Configuration of the MetaXpress analysis software is straightforward yet comprehensive, and may require a look through the supplied manual. The pictures from the ImageXpress® acquisition machine are analyzed and the result files can be stored as image overlays or text data, for which you can set the recorded parameters such as neurite lengths, cell body sizes, and more. The ImageXpress® system scans a multitude of plates ranging from 12-well to 1536-well plates.

The amount of hands-on operation required is minimal once scripts are configured through the software wizard and saved. Furthermore, with mostly automated operation, the ImageXpress®^MICRO delivers on its promise of seamlessly integrating the acquisition and analysis processes. The rate of acquisition and analysis can seem long at times depending on the amount of data generated, but it is reasonable considering the detail and resolution of the images and subsequent analysis overlays. In terms of observed reliability, the ImageXpress acquisition instrument can suffer problems with its lamp assembly. Operators of the machine will need to reduce power to the machine when it is not in use, not a trivial task since automated acquisitions can extend for several hours. Indeed, the lamp assembly seems to be the weak link in an otherwise flawless system- the MetaXpress analysis software can run several analysis scripts in parallel with little problem, although overall analysis time will be proportionate to the number of running scripts; a powerful multi-core computer is recommended for timely analysis completion. Overall, the ImageXpress®^MICRO Automated Acquisition and Analysis System from Molecular Devices is a robust and reasonably priced tool providing an easy integrated solution for investigators concerned with cellular imaging and screening.