We are pleased to participate in a cooperation with the Institute for Environmental Research at RWTH Aachen University on the development of a digital tool for the evaluation of ecotoxicological algae tests by Franziska Ludwig as part of a master’s thesis:
Cell-count and biomass determination in ecotoxicological algae tests using automated image processing.
The evaluation of ecotoxicological algae tests involves the time-consuming determination of cell size and cell number in order to calculate the biomass. Therefore, fluorescence is usually measured as a surrogate parameter for biomass. However, the chemicals used in these tests can inhibit cell division and thus possibly decouple the usually measured fluorescence from the actual biomass. With the help of automated image processing, cell size and cell number can be determined accurately and in a time-saving manner, thus improving the quality of the calculated biomass data.