Measurements seem strange

You went through Run QC test and your BactoBox® setup passed.

Is this not the case? Then let's take a step back. Did the QC test fail? Does your BactoBox® not even power on?

See also Troubleshooting.

My BactoBox® measurements seem strange

You are here because you measured your sample vial with BactoBox®, but the cells/mL or total/mL concentration doesn't align with your expectations.

You don't even get a cells/mL or total/mL concentration?

This means that you got an error message instead. See Error about conductivity, Error about slow/fast flow, or Error about electrical signal or noise.

Let's narrow it down. We know that your BactoBox® setup works since it passes the QC test. In other words, it is your sample that we need to take a look at. See the following sections for details.

I expected better correlation with plate counts

You are here because you do BactoBox® measurements side-by-side with plate counts and the results don't align.

BactoBox® does correlate with plate counts for active cultures but it requires that you prepare your sample first. Especially, that you break up clumps and chains.

If your culture is not in an active stage you may get Divergence from plate counts.

Plate counts on bacterial clumps and chains

Bacterial aggregates are generally a pain to measure. If your bacteria form clumps or chains, neither BactoBox® nor plate counts give meaningful results.

Plate counts are measured in colony-forming units (CFUs). However, a colony does not distinguish between single cells and aggregates. What does your CFU number mean then? Answer: "It depends". Not happy with that answer? Neither are we.

Divergence from plate countsLinearityBreak up clumps and chains

The cells/mL concentration is lower than expected

You may have to customize gating for your BactoBox®. This is an advanced topic. Reach out to us for help.

Gating

In general

Make sure that you prepare your sample so that it follows the requirements. See also our list of applications for protocols specific to specific use cases.

Prepare your sampleWhat can I measure on?Applications

It's something else

💻 Create a support case

This automatically sends us a device data bundle from your BactoBox®.

✉️ Send us an e-mail

Send an e-mail to our support team. Include a device data bundle with your email.