Eliminates the need for serial dilutions

 Requires minimal set up time

 Reduces cost per test

 Standardises counting methods.

Spiral platers are used extensively in the food industry to test for safe levels of bacteria - non-food applications include pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, water and mouth and skin bacteria. The benefits of spiral plating compared to conventional methods include minimal set up time, the elimination of serial dilutions, up to 69% labour saving, a reduction in consumable costs and laboratory waste with up to a two thirds reduction in incubator space requirements.

With the user very much in mind, careful attention has been paid to all aspects of the design to ensure the product is easy to use. Developed in response to the changing needs of our customers, the Whitley Automated Spiral Plater represents a radical new approach to plater design, introducing automation, repeatability and flexibility into spiral plating.

At the heart of the Whitley Automated Spiral Plater is a microprocessor controlling all aspects of the deposition of liquid sample onto the surface of a rotating agar plate. Differences in agar height are accommodated by the unique stylus geometry. The stylus arm dispenses liquid samples in an Archimedes spiral, either uniformly across the plate, or as a continuous decreasing volume (equivalent to a thousand-fold dilution). 

 Pre-programmed options allow liquid sample to be dispensed in a variety of ways, utilising up to 200ml of sample. One impressive feature of the Whitley Automated Spiral Plater is the ability to load sample, inoculate a plate and then clean the stylus with a single keystroke. The Whitley Automated Spiral Plater has an automatic cleaning cycle. This uses sanitising solution from an integral reservoir and sterile water contained in autoclavable vessels. Automation of the cleaning cycle gives the operator time to remove the inoculated plate and prepare for the next sample, thus streamlining the process. User-selectable parameters can be chosen and locked, ensuring that the correct settings are always used. All controls are accessed via a full colour, purpose-designed membrane keypad.

To use the Whitley Automated Spiral Plater successfully, a Whitley Vacuum Source is essential for drawing up the sample from source into the spiral plater.

Watch a video of the Whitley Automated Spiral Plater in use as part of a fully automated Tecan plating system.

Using smaller diameter Petri dishes with the Whitley Automated Spiral Plater?

Call +44 (0)1274 595728 now for our Compressed Spiral Pack containing an instruction sheet showing how to alter the stylus start position, a set of compressed spiral counting tables, two compressed spiral counting grids, and a set of 21 individual, laminated counting table sheet for use at the laboratory bench. For customers using aCOLyte or ProtoCOL automated counting systems, new software is now available for use with smaller diameter plates. Please call us for more information.

 WASP is a registered trademark of Don Whitley Scientific Limited