The IncuCyte S3 live-cell analysis system can easily answer all these questions - and Essen Bioscience from the UK is revealing how at LABVOLUTION 2017 in Hannover. From the outside, the system looks no different from any run-of-the-mill mini cell incubator - but it's what’s going on behind those closed doors that really counts. The IncuCyte S3 sits inside a standard incubator (a list of compatible equipment is available), and the cells can be added either in standard culture flasks or in microtiter plates (Essen Bioscience also cites vessels from numerous major producers) for continuous monitoring. The trick is that IncuCyte takes pictures or videos at intervals set by the user, which it then analyzes to check the cells' health and growth. It can also just as easily monitor complex processes - such as migration, invasion or killing - in situ, i.e. without the need to remove the cells from the incubator! This enables an entirely new kind of real-time analysis, which includes extended kinetic analysis, as the measurements can be continued for days or even weeks without having to set a - potentially inopportune - finishing point.

IncuCyte can hold up to six microplates at once, which makes it possible to conduct separate experiments in tandem. Multiplex measurements can also be taken in 96- or 384-well format. IncuCyte S3 can thus take a considerable part of the workload off users, who can simply sit back and relax once the measuring process has started, or rather attend to other pressing tasks. IncuCyte automatically performs the image-based data capture for the specified length of time. Further information is on offer on Tuesday, 16 May, between 10 and 11 a.m. in a presentation entitled "Enabling automated, real-time, analysis of cell health, proliferation, movement and function while cells remain unperturbed within your incubator" at the LabUSER Exhibitors' Forum in Hall 19. And if that's not enough, visitors to LABVOLUTION are warmly invited to take a close-up look at the device in action at the special induction session the company is offering at its stand on 17 May from 11.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m.