Life technologies Countess series User manual

5For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

QUICK REFERENCE

Limited Product Warranty

Life Technologies Corporation and/or its affiliate(s) warrant their products as set forth in the Life

Technologies’ General Terms and Conditions of Sale found on Life Technologies’ website at

www.lifetechnologies.com/termsandconditions.If you have any questions, please contact Life

Technologies at www.lifetechnologies.com/support.

Disclaimer

LIFE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION AND/OR ITS AFFILIATE(S) DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO

THIS DOCUMENT, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THOSE OF MERCHANTABILITY,

FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. TO THE EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW, IN NO

EVENT SHALL LIFE TECHNOLOGIES AND/OR ITS AFFILIATE(S) BE LIABLE, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT,

WARRANTY, OR UNDER ANY STATUTE OR ON ANY OTHER BASIS FOR SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT,

PUNITIVE, MULTIPLE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IN CONNECTION WITH OR ARISING FROM THIS

DOCUMENT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE USE THEREOF.

Important Licensing Information

This product may be covered by one or more Limited Use Label Licenses. By use of this product, you accept the

terms and conditions of all applicable Limited Use Label Licenses.

All trademarks are the property of Thermo Fisher Scientific and its subsidiaries, unless otherwise specified.

For support visit lifetechnologies.com/support or email techsupport@lifetech.com

lifetechnologies.com

4 September 2014

Countess®II

Countess®II FL

Automated Cell Counter

Catalog Numbers AMQAX1000, AMQAF1000

Pub. no. MAN0010826

Rev. A.0

Changing EVOS®Light Cubes

Note: For Countess®II FL (AMQAF100) only.

The Countess®II FL Automated Cell Counter can hold up to two EVOS®light cubes. Light

cubes do not come standard with the device and must be purchased separately.

To install a light cube:

1. Turn off the instrument by ﬂipping the power switch to the OFF position and unplug it

from the electrical outlet.

2. Unlatch the back panel of the instrument.

3. Using the tool provided on the inside of the back panel, loosen

the two screws (red arrows) that secure the light cube to the

instrument.

4. Once the light cube is loosened, thread the tool into the center

hole in the cube (white arrow) and gently pull the light cube out of

the instrument.

5. To install a light cube, put the cube into one of the two empty slots.

6. Using the light cube tool, tighten the two screws to securely attach

the cube to the instrument.

7. Place the light cube tool into its slot inside the back panel, and then install the back

panel and secure it in its place.

8. Plug the instrument back into the electric outlet and turn it on by ﬂipping the power

switch to the ON position.

Overview

The Countess®II (Cat. no. AMQAX1000) is an automated benchtop cell counter that

performs cell count and viability measurements of trypan blue stained samples that are

loaded into plastic, disposable Countess®Cell Counting Chamber Slides.

The Countess®II FL (Cat. no. AMQAF1000) is a fully automated cell counter that uses EVOS®

light cube technology to analyze ﬂuorescently labeled cells or trypan blue stained samples.

Cells can be counted from either plastic, disposable Countess®Cell Counting Chamber

Slides or from glass Countess®II FL Reusable Chamber Slides.

Note: The Countess®II and Countess®II FL User Guide is provided on the USB ﬂash drive. You

can also download the user guide from the Countess®Automated Cell Counter product page at

www.lifetechnologies.com/countess.

USB

port Slide

port

Slide

carrier

7” capacitive

touchscreen

Setup

1. Unpack the Countess®II instrument and place it on a ﬂat, level, dry surface.

2. Ensure that the power switch located onthe back of the instrument is in the OFF

position, and then plug the power cord into the instrument.

3. Plug the power cord into the electrical outlet.

4. Turn on the instrument by ﬂipping the power switch to the ON position.

5. Once the Home page is displayed, the instrument is ready to use.

Note: To get the best performance from the Countess®II and Countess®II FL Automated Cell

Counters, check for software updates at www.lifetechnologies.com/countess.

Basic operation

Note: For detailed information such as advanced operations (i.e., ﬂuorescence counting, setting

light levels, adjusting counting algorithm, etc.), refer to the user guide.

1. Prepare sample by adding 10 µL of your cell suspension to 10 µL of 0.4% trypan blue stain.

2. Load 10 µL of the sample mixture per chamber into the Countess®Cell Counting

Chamber Slide.

3. Insert the slide, sample side ﬁrst, into the slide port until you hear a soft click.

Note: The Countess®II Automated Cell Counter comes with the holder for disposable plastic

chamber slides pre‑installed. The plastic slides are directly inserted into the slide holder,

which cannot be removed.

4. The instrument automatically illuminates the sample and focuses the cells.

5. To enable the auto focus to function properly, manually focus the cells using the Focus

slider and press Set to set the optimal focus.

Note: The auto focus algorithm is designed to highlight the differences between live and dead

cells. Therefore, the optimal focus level is slightly “under” focus (see examples on page4).

Optimally focused “live” cells have a light colored center, whereas “dead” cells are dark

throughout.

Power

switch

EVOS®

light cubes

Power

input jack

Slide

carrier

Light cube

tool

USB

port

6. Set exposure using the Light source slider, and press Capture. The instrument captures

the image and displays the results (total concentration, percentage and concentration of

live and dead cells).

7. To count the sample in the second chamber, remove and turn around the slide, and

reinsert it sample side ﬁrst into the instrument.

Changing the slide holder

Note: For Countess®II FL (AMQAF100) only.

1. Grasp both sides of the holder for disposable chamber slides and gently squeeze while

pulling it out of the instrument.

2. Unlatch the back panel of the instrument and remove the holder for reusable glass slides.

3. Place the holder for disposable slides in the back panel for storage and secure the back

panel to the instrument.

4. Place the glass Countess®II FL Reusable Chamber Slide into the holder, sample side

over the hole in the slide holder.

5. Insert the holder with the reusable glass slide into the instrument until you hear a click.

6. To remove, push the slide holder inward to release it, and then pull the holder the

remainder of the way out.

Focus is not optimal Focus is optimal

The back panel of the Countess®II FL Automated Cell Counter allows access to the optional

EVOS®light cubes and provides storage for the light cube tool and the slide carrier. The

back panel is secured to the instrument by two captive ¼-turn fasteners.

The back panel of the Countess®II Automated Cell Counter is ﬁxed to the instrument and

cannot be opened.