Development of automated animal cell counting software via image analysis

• Grant number: 23/15375-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2024
• End date: June 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Chemical Process Industries
• Principal Investigator: Aldo Tonso
• Grantee: Lucca Ken Takii Sumagawa
• Host Institution: Escola Politécnica (EP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Research in the area of bioprocess engineering involves repeated cultivation of cells in a controlled medium in order to study the growth and development of lineages of interest, investigating how environmental factors (cultivation conditions and components of the culture medium) affect this population. In order to analyze population evolution over time, one of the criteria that can provide the most information and is widely used is cell concentration in the culture medium. To obtain this type of data, the following procedure is carried out: samples of the culture are collected periodically, so that the cells in these samples can be counted and thus arrive at a population concentration value. This counting can be done manually using an optical microscope with the sample pressed between the slide and coverslip, or using disposable counting equipment or pipettes. The manual counting method proves to be inefficient in terms of time, while the use of automated equipment involves a high initial investment and disposable pipettes are very costly in the long term. Therefore, given the need for an economically viable and efficient method, there is an opportunity to create software capable of estimating the cellular concentration of samples by processing images obtained by an optical microscope, in a manner analogous to the manual counting method. The present project aims to develop software and test it in the cultivation of insect cells to produce a bioinsecticide.