Tools required for High Content Analysis and High Content Screening

The basic concept of High Content Analysis (HCA) and High Content Screening (HCS) is to automate high resolution fluorescence and / or brightfield microscopy and to enable fully automated screening in multi-well microtiter plates as well as slide-based formats.

From a technical point of view, the fundamental requirements of HCA and HCS comprise a widefield or confocal microscope unit, a versatile high-power light source and filters covering a wide range of wavelengths for fluorophores and a highly sensitive camera capturing fluorescence emission for signal detection, as offered by our High Content Screening readers the Operetta™ and Opera™.

A further necessity for a HCA system is a highly flexible and versatile software for image acquisition, image analysis, data analysis, data management and data storage, such as our Acapella™ and Columbus™ software.

Operetta HCS instrument

Liquid handling devices for administration of reagents and compound handling can be either integrated into the HCS instrument or used in the periphery like the Janus™. Environmental control units and interfacing to external incubators provide optimal conditions (temperature, CO2 , humidity) for long term cell analysis. Integration into a robotic workstation like the plate::handler™ or a larger screening platform enables large compound or RNAi screening campaigns to be run unattended 24/ 7, as offered by our cell::explorer™.