BD FACSMicroCount
Applications
Personal and home care products
The BD FACSMicroCount™ system reliably screens raw material and finished products for microbial contamination to help manufacturers monitor product quality. By delivering pass/fail results for the presence or absence of microbial contamination within 24 to 48 hours, the system offers significant benefits over traditional methods that typically require holding raw materials in quarantine for several days.
The BD FACSMicroCount system can screen bacteria, yeast, and mold in a single test with results that correlate with traditional plating methods. This application uses the BD FACSMicroCount Product Screening Media Kit to enrich the sample with bacteria, yeast, and mold for rapid growth. In traditional plating methods, bacteria screening is separate from the screening for mold and yeast. Thus, the extra speed of the BD FACSMicroCount method offers additional time savings.
Screening Finished Products and Raw Materials Streamlines the Process and Reduces Risk
The qualitative product screening application uses a defined method to increase output to 20 samples per hour, the fastest operating mode of the system. This application employs a default sample volume of 0.1 mL and uses only two reagents for reaction times of approximately 90 seconds per reagent, allowing preparation of multiple samples at once.
Faster screening cuts the time needed to release products, which directly translates to savings from reduced manufacturing cycle times and inventory levels, and improved warehouse utilization.
Data Analysis
Data can be presented in graphical or tabular format and data review can be conducted while other samples are being processed. Specific pass/fail criteria can be saved in the methods page for each product sample, creating visual highlighted (red-fail result and green-pass result) indicators for the user to see.
Examples of graphical and tabular data analysis formats
Intensity view results
Procedure to Prepare Sample for Processing
Sample Preparation
Suspend the sample in phosphate buffer or growth enhancement media (GEM) that contains soy lecithin and Tween®20 as neutralizers, and thoroughly mix to achieve a homogeneous product suspension.
Transfer 1mL of the suspension to Tube A.
Enrichment
Incubate the samples for 24 to 48 hours at 30°C ±2°C with gentle agitation.
Post-Enrichment Processing
Transfer the swab from Tube A and place it in Tube B, and vortex for 15 seconds. Leave the tube undisturbed for 10 minutes.
Place a filter cap on Tube C and filter 100 µL of the sample from Tube B into Tube C. Load samples onto the BD FACSMicroCount cytometer and analyze.
