Rapid and retrievable recording of big data of time-lapse 3D shadow images of microbial colonies

We formerly developed an automatic colony count system based on the time-lapse shadow image analysis (TSIA). Here this system has been upgraded and applied to practical rapid decision. A microbial sample was spread on/in an agar plate with 90 mm in diameter as homogeneously as possible. We could obtain the results with several strains that most of colonies appeared within a limited time span. Consequently the number of colonies reached a steady level (N(stdy)) and then unchanged until the end of long culture time to give the confirmed value (N(conf)). The equivalence of N(stdy) and N(conf) as well as the difference of times for N(stdy) and N(conf) determinations were statistically significant at p < 0.001. N(stdy) meets the requirement of practical routines treating a large number of plates. The difference of N(stdy) and N(conf), if any, may be elucidated by means of retrievable big data. Therefore N(conf) is valid for official documentation.