Last week, we shared LaMotte’s BioPaddle Water Quality Kits, and we mentioned that every BioPaddle kit comes with a free app and the option to purchase the extended version. The apps are so cool they warrant their own blog post, so today we’re giving you some insight into all the great things you can do with LaMotte’s BioPaddle iPad apps.
BioPaddles Lite App
BioPaddlesLite is the free iPad app, and it allows users to presumptively identify microbe colonies by comparing them to a library of 80 high-res images covering 5 microhabitats (air, water, soil, surface and food) on all media types carried by LaMotte.
The app also contains some great resource materials including detailed fact sheets for each media type and microbe genera (along with selected species), procedures for common microbiological techniques, and examples of microbe growth on BioPaddles® from a variety of microhabitat sources.
So how does it work?
Let’s say you used a Nutrient-TTC /MacConkey BioPaddle from the Total Coliform Activity, and you tested water. On the app, you would select water as the microhabitat, and Nutrient-TTC as the agar for side 1. You would follow the same procedure for side 2, selecting MacConkey as the agar.
When you save your selection, the app automatically narrows the library of images down to a few potential microorganisms that could be growing on your BioPaddle. You can scroll through the images to find a colony that looks similar to your growth for presumptive identification.
You can take the app a step further by viewing a side image of the colony or looking at the cell view. Once you’re satisfied that the colony shown on the app matches that grown on your BioPaddle, you can tap on the app image for enumeration and more information about that organism.
You can select the Grid button to lay a grid over the app image and learn how to calculate Total Viable Count (TVC) and Total Coliform Count (TCC). You can also view enumeration panels for comparison.
And as if that’s not enough, you can tap the “i” icon for additional resources. Every microbe in the app has a microbe fact sheet, so you can learn more about each organism. Information you might find on a microbe fact sheet includes:
- Preferred microhabitat
- Colony description on BioPaddle agars
- Cell description
- Physiology
- Cultivation
- Taxonomy
- Species list
- Interesting facts
- Glossary
Other resources include sampling procedures, how to prepare dilute solutions, enumeration instructions and more. There is an abundant amount of information in the app, and it’s all free! It doesn’t get much better than that.
BioPaddles App
But just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, LaMotte stepped it up another notch and created the extended BioPaddles App, available for just $5.99.
So what else can you do with this app that you can’t already do with the free version?
For starters, they’ve amped up the image library to over 250 standard images covering more than 30 microbe genera! That’s more than 3 times the amount of images in the free app. What does that mean for you? It means you’re far more likely to find a microbe match in the extended app, and you can stare at beautiful microbes all day long if you want. (Wait, are we the only people that do that?)
Not only is the image library massive, but this app also has digital image capture, import and comparison, as well as the ability to create and email reports. That’s right. You can take an image of your BioPaddle growth and import into the app to compare it side-by-side with the app’s image library.
Guess what else that means for you? It means you can put the grid over your own BioPaddle image to count colonies or compare it to enumeration panels.
And once you’ve identified your growth and made your conclusions, you can enter that information into the report form and email it right from the app.
Note: Currently, the apps are only compatible with iPads, and for the camera function on the paid app, only iPad 2’s and higher.
LaMotte thought of everything with the BioPaddle app, and it’s a great way to use technology to captivate students’ attention and get them involved. We haven’t seen any other dipslide apps like this one out there, and we definitely think it’s worth $5.99.
Last but not least, LaMotte’s line of Microbe Hunter Activity kits are becoming increasingly popular, so next week we’re taking a closer look at the available activities and what’s to come.
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