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rapid sterility testing
Faster sterility testing of advanced therapies and pharmaceuticals
Advanced therapies and biologics need to be available quickly, and they need to be safe. Yet traditional sterility tests’ long turnaround times and complex procedures can lead to long vein-to-vein times and high production and release costs. The Symcel calScreener+ and caloTrace sterility testing systems are designed specifically to address these challenges. They provide reliable growth-based detection within hours, including C. acnes in as little as 48 hours, and negative results in as little as 2–3 days. The systems combine high sensitivity, continuous real-time monitoring, and straightforward workflows with minimal sample preparation.
Rapid microbial testing
Advancing consumer goods microbial quality and safety testing
Microbial contamination is a persistent risk across cosmetics, personal care products, consumer goods, and industrial formulations. Traditional microbial tests are slow—especially when samples are sent to external laboratories—and often miss low-level contamination in viscous, complex, or preservative-rich products.
Rapid microbial testing with the calScreener® and caloTrace® biocalorimetetry based systems enables direct measurement of complex formulations and reduces timelines from days to hours, supporting faster contamination control, batch release, and accelerated stability studies.
Biofilm Analysis
Detect viable cells in undisrupted biofilms
Unlock the full potential of your biofilm studies with Symcel’s biocalorimetry-based calScreener and caloTrace systems. Traditional methods often require compromises when defining your assays. The Symcel systems allow you to mirror in vivo-like conditions and can handle even the most complex models and samples.
They enable you to analyze the entire biofilm population, capturing all subpopulations and niches – even dormant ones deep within the biofilm – without disturbing or disrupting the biofilm structure or removing the cells. Sensitive, label-free and reagent-free, biocalorimetry enables continuous monitoring of biofilm activity while keeping samples intact. Gain deeper insight into biofilm behavior, treatment response and microbial activity over time.
Food & beverage
Advancing microbial quality, safety and shelf-life testing
Food and beverage manufacturers face increasing pressure to ensure product quality, safety, and shelf life while accelerating product release. Yet traditional microbial testing methods are often slow, labor-intensive, and may struggle with low-level contamination in complex product matrices.
The Symcel calScreener® and caloTrace® platforms enable faster detection of viable microorganisms across applications ranging from contamination detection and ingredient quality control to shelf-life studies, probiotic research, and preservative efficacy testing.
Through continuous monitoring and highly sensitive detection, the systems provide earlier insights into microbial activity, supporting faster quality decisions and more efficient product development.
Probiotics
Optimizing probiotic product development
Biocalorimetry provides a direct way to study probiotic activity and complex microbial interactions throughout research, product development and quality control. The calScreener supports media optimization and screening in both transparent and opaque, complex growth media. Metabolic activity can be measured directly from single- and multi-species cultures, providing label-free insight into viability, growth, activity and interactions.
Continuous measurements in up to 32 parallel vials enable efficient studies and optimization of strains, formulations and experimental conditions.
Clinical Research
ADVANCING COMPLEX INFECTION RESEARCH
Symcel’s biocalorimetry systems enable researchers to study microbial activity directly in clinical samples, providing continuous metabolic measurements without disrupting the sample. Applications include rapid detection of microbial growth, antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST), investigation of biofilm-associated infections, and research into microbial identification.
By capturing microbial metabolism in real time, researchers can study infection dynamics and treatment response in complex clinical samples while exploring new approaches to faster and more informative infection diagnostics.
Cell research
Real-Time Insights into Cellular Function and Metabolism
Understanding cellular metabolism is essential for advancing modern life science research. From organoid development and neuroscience to cancer biology and metabolic disease, researchers need technologies that reveal biological activity continuously and non-invasively.
Symcel’s biocalorimetry-based cell research solutions enable real-time monitoring of living cells and tissues, providing deeper insight into cellular behavior, viability, growth, and treatment response over time.
Environmental & Microbiome
MEASURING ACTIVITY IN COMPLEX MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES
Understanding interactions within microbiomes is a complex challenge, especially when those interactions are not directly tied to growth and cell numbers. Interspecies synergy, competition, and other interactions within microbiomes can manifest in various ways beyond simple cell division, such as through changes in overall metabolic rates.
While plating and sequencing provide insight into microbial composition, biocalorimetry provides a direct functional readout of the community. Changes in activity can be monitored continuously as microorganisms interact and respond to changing conditions.