Journal: npj Imaging

Article Title: Automated smartphone based cell analysis platform

doi: 10.1038/s44303-025-00093-z

Figure Lengend Snippet: A Schematic illustration and photograph of Quantella and the flow cell. Key labeled components include the smartphone (Oppo Reno 10× Zoom), external Arducam lens (~16 mm focal length), LED illumination source, microcontroller, LiPo battery, and flow cell. B The smartphone application, Qtouch, developed for hardware control and analyses of cell density, viability, and confluency. The image shows the density-viability analysis panel. C Left: Image of CHO DG44 cells in trypan blue solution, with processed results indicating live cells circled in green and dead cells circled in red. Right: Confluency analysis image, with processed areas showing segmented cells highlighted in green. D Image of the USAF 1951 resolution test chart captured by Quantella, resolving Group 9, Element 3 (feature size ~0.775 µm), indicating a minimum resolution of ~1.55 µm. E Images of a wide range of specimens, including cervix uteri tissue (zoomed in on cervical cells), L929 fibroblast-like cells, AB strain wild-type (AB WT) zebrafish, and rabbit RBCs. F Relationship between flow rate of the piezoelectric pump and the applied voltage (1.0–4.5 V). A linear regression model (black line) was fitted to the experimental data points (red dots), which represent the average values ( n = 5).

Article Snippet: Another example is the CKX-CCSW Confluency Checker Software (Olympus), specifically designed for use with the CKX53 inverted microscope, employs image-processing techniques and is compatible with various culture vessels, ensuring efficient and versatile confluency analysis .

Techniques: Labeling, Battery, Control

Journal: npj Imaging

Article Title: Automated smartphone based cell analysis platform

doi: 10.1038/s44303-025-00093-z

Figure Lengend Snippet: A Schematic representation of the grid slab’s working principle, illustrating how it generates a high-contrast background to enhance cell visibility for accurate confluency calculations. B Visualization of how transparent cells become distinguishable, with edges and features highlighted against a contrasting background created by the grid slab, compared to a transparent background. C High-contrast confluency images produced by Quantella, offering visibility similar to phase-contrast microscopy (PCM). D Flowchart depicting the workflow of the image segmentation algorithm developed for confluency analysis. E Confluency analysis results for MCF-7 cell samples with varying confluency levels, together with their PCM images.

Article Snippet: Another example is the CKX-CCSW Confluency Checker Software (Olympus), specifically designed for use with the CKX53 inverted microscope, employs image-processing techniques and is compatible with various culture vessels, ensuring efficient and versatile confluency analysis .

Techniques: Produced, Microscopy

Journal: npj Imaging

Article Title: Automated smartphone based cell analysis platform

doi: 10.1038/s44303-025-00093-z

Figure Lengend Snippet: A Schematic illustration of the working principle of PTX. The captured images of MCF-7 cells demonstrate the healthy cell formation, which is degraded upon the PTX exposure. The decrease in cell confluency demonstrates PTX’s (1 µm) antitumor effect. B Schematic illustration of the working principle of DOX. The bar plot shows the decrease in cell viability at different concentrations of DOX for treatment durations of 24 (blue), 48 (green), and 72 h (peach) for different drug concentrations, e.g., 1 nM, 10 nM, 50 nM, 125 nM, and 500 nM compared to the control group (white). In the figure, the error bars represent twice the standard deviation of n = 17 replicates. Calculated p -values (Control vs. Treated groups) are as follows, e.g., for the 24 h treatment: 0.8 (1 nM), 5.1 × 10 −3 (10 nM), 1.3 × 10 –9 (50 nM), 1 × 10 –11 (125 nM), 7.9 × 10 –16 (500 nM), for the 48 h treatment: 0.1 (1 nM), 8.2 × 10 –6 (10 nM), 7 × 10 –14 (50 nM), 2.8 × 10 –24 (125 nM), 4.8 × 10 –26 (500 nM); and for the 72 h treatment: 5.4 × 10 –5 (1 nM), 4.2 × 10 –5 (10 nM), 2 × 10 –19 (50 nM), 2.3 × 10 –26 (125 nM), 3 × 10 –28 (500 nM). C Schematic illustration of the phases in the cell cycle. Box plots show cell density changes for 48 h serum starvation, measured by MTT ( n = 11) and Quantella ( n = 10). Control = Black, Starvation (MTT/Quantella) = Orange/Green. Cohen’s d values calculated for the MTT assay and Quantella are 4.60 and 6.47, respectively. D Schematic illustration of RBC extraction from a rabbit. Left: Image of RBCs enhanced via the image-processing algorithm. Right: Location of cells (highlighted with green) determined by the image-processing algorithm. The figure shows the cell density of the same RBC samples calculated via Quantella with n = 17 replicates (red circles), each containing 20 sample images. The black dashed line highlights the hemogram result, where Quantella yields only a 0.14% mean error deviation from the hemogram result. E Image of Mahlavu cells injected into the flow cell at a density of 2.5 × 10⁶ cells/mL. The accompanying box plot demonstrates that the cleaning protocol effectively removes all residual cells. The box plots represent interquartile ranges, and the squares indicate average values.

Article Snippet: Another example is the CKX-CCSW Confluency Checker Software (Olympus), specifically designed for use with the CKX53 inverted microscope, employs image-processing techniques and is compatible with various culture vessels, ensuring efficient and versatile confluency analysis .

Techniques: Control, Standard Deviation, MTT Assay, Extraction, Injection

Journal: npj Imaging

Article Title: Automated smartphone based cell analysis platform

doi: 10.1038/s44303-025-00093-z

Figure Lengend Snippet: A Qtouch workflow for imaging, pump control, communication with the server for data processing, and displaying analysis results. B Qtouch home screen, where operators select the desired analysis type, e.g., cell counting (viability and density) or confluency. Main interfaces for ( C ) cell counting and ( D ) confluency experiments.

Article Snippet: Another example is the CKX-CCSW Confluency Checker Software (Olympus), specifically designed for use with the CKX53 inverted microscope, employs image-processing techniques and is compatible with various culture vessels, ensuring efficient and versatile confluency analysis .

Techniques: Imaging, Control, Cell Counting