Images of World’s Largest Rotifer Reference Collection Captured on CD in less than Three Months by Auto-Montage

17th August 2004. Cambridge, UK: Syncroscopy, the world leader in unique digital imaging solutions for microscopy applications, is delighted to announce that the prestigious Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, has used its Auto-Montage 3-D imaging software to rapidly produce a CD containing images of more than 700 species plates of rotifers.

The CD, known as the Frank J. Myers Rotifera Collection contains accurate images of 744 rotifer species on slides and is the world’s largest virtual collection of this animal group. Rotifers are important because they live in water and transform organic matter into protein. Without rotifers, fish cannot survive and the presence of some species is a good biomarker of the ecological health of rivers and lakes, which makes identifying species correctly very important.

Dr. Christian Jersabek, the curator of the rotifer collection explained: ”The Frank J. Myers Rotifera Collection has excellent slide preparations but cannot be moved from Philadelphia. This means it is not accessible to many scientists, which is why we wanted to produce a CD of the collection. However, to make the CD without Auto-Montage we would have had to include around 40-50 thousand images to provide all 3-D information of each rotifer on the slide.”

“Using Auto-Montage we still captured around 40-50 thousand source images but because the software added all the in-focus sections together to produce one focused image, it was quick and easy to do this and produce a final set of just 1500 images. Without Auto-Montage we would not have this great CD, which will be invaluable to rotifer taxonomists everywhere,” Dr. Jersabek concluded.

Martin Smith, Syncroscopy’s Divisional Manager added: ”It is very satisfying to see scientists at highly regarded institutions like The Academy of Natural Sciences using the Auto-Montage software. The images on the CD really endorse how easily Auto-Montage can create accurate reference collections of small plants or animals, making them available to scientists throughout the world.”

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Dr. Christian Jersabek, The Academy of Natural Sciences, Biodiversity Research Group, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA.

Note to Editors

About Syncroscopy

Syncroscopy develops and manufactures world-leading digital imaging solutions for extending the capabilities of optical microscopes. Syncroscopy's innovative brands include: Auto-Montage, unique software that produces infinite depth of focus images and has 3-D modelling and measurement features; Montage Explorer software, for accurate seamless image stitching of large sample images; and SyncroScan, an automated system, which attaches to digital microscopes to allow high speed sample scanning and precise image stitching. Syncroscopy's software and systems are used by more than 2,000 organisations internationally and include many of the world's major research institutes.

Syncroscopy, founded in 1998 is a division of the Synoptics Group based in Cambridge, UK. The Group’s other divisions, Syngene and Synbiosis, specialise in digital imaging solutions for molecular biology and microbial applications respectively. Synoptics currently employs 50 people in its UK and subsidiary operation in Frederick, USA. The Group has profitable revenue of almost $10 million and continues to grow rapidly.

About The Academy of Natural Sciences

Since its founding in 1812, The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, USA has made tremendous progress in unlocking the secrets of life through its world-renown scientific research and expansive scientific collections. The Academy houses the world’s most comprehensive collection of rotifers on slides. The collection comprises 1,935 slides covering 744 taxa from 34 countries. Some 96 per cent of the slides are in excellent condition, largely due to the widespread use of pure glycerine as a mounting medium.