Cell Type Guidelines for the Vi-CELL BLU 2.0 Software
Published: August 26, 2026
Key Takeaways
- Proper cell type selection helps improve accuracy and reproducibility for cell concentration and viability measurements.
- Cell type optimization can improve cell recognition, debris exclusion, and cell sizing consistency across different samples.
- Minimum Cell Dark Contrast and Cell Brightness provide additional control over object identification and image analysis quality.
Proper cell type selection and optimization are essential for obtaining accurate and reproducible cell concentration and viability measurements across different cell lines and applications.
What is a Cell Type?
A cell type is a predefined set of analytical parameters that determines how the Vi-CELL BLU 2.0 software processes and evaluates a sample.
Why Change the Cell Type?
Although the system includes default cell types for common applications, optimization is recommended for specific cell lines and experimental conditions.
Optimizing the cell type can improve:
- Cell recognition accuracy
- Debris exclusion
- Cell sizing consistency
New Cell Type Parameters
Two additional image analysis parameters have been introduced to provide greater control over object identification and debris exclusion:
Minimum Cell Dark Contrast
Minimum Cell Dark Contrast defines the required difference between the darkest region of an object in the image and the background before the object is considered a cell.
Cell Brightness
Cell Brightness defines the intensity threshold used to determine which pixels within an object are sufficiently dark to be included in cell identification.
Minimum Cell Dark Contrast
What is Minimum Cell Dark Contrast?
Minimum Cell Dark Contrast defines the required difference between the darkest region of an object in the image and the background before the object is considered a cell.
Value Range
- Range: 0–100
- Typical setting: 5–50
How It Works
Increasing the setting requires stronger contrast between the object and the background.
This parameter can be used to filter out debris and weakly contrasting objects.
Effect:
- Increasing the threshold value filters out debris.
- A higher value will increase the number of blue annotated cells and reduce the number of red/green annotated cells.
- A lower value will decrease the number of blue annotated cells and increase the number of red/green annotated cells.
Cell Brightness
What is Cell Brightness?
Cell Brightness defines the intensity threshold used to determine which pixels within an object are sufficiently dark to be included in cell identification.
Value Range
- Range: 0–95
- Typical setting: 92
How It Works
This parameter helps refine object boundaries and improve discrimination between cells and background artifacts.
Impact of Cell Brightness
- Cell Brightness can be used to exclude objects from the analysis, removing the blue circle annotation.
- Adjusting this parameter helps clean up images and reduce debris from the analysis.
- Lowering the value may help in sizing low-contrast cells.
- Changes to Cell Brightness directly affect the number of objects identified during analysis.
- A higher Cell Brightness value increases the number of objects identified.
- Decreasing the Cell Brightness value reduces the number of objects identified.
The addition of Minimum Cell Dark Contrast and Cell Brightness provides enhanced control over cell identification, debris exclusion, and image quality optimization.
FAQ on Cell Type Guidelines
Why should I optimize a cell type?
Optimizing a cell type can improve analytical performance by enhancing cell detection accuracy, reducing interference from debris, and improving cell sizing consistency. This helps generate more reliable cell concentration and viability results across different sample types and experimental conditions.
How does Cell Brightness affect cell analysis results?
Cell Brightness controls the intensity threshold used during object identification. Adjusting this parameter can influence the number of objects detected, improve cell boundary definition, reduce unwanted debris, and help optimize analysis for low-contrast samples. Changes to Cell Brightness may also affect calculated cell concentration and viability measurements.
What is a cell type in Vi-CELL BLU 2.0 software?
A cell type is a predefined set of analytical parameters that determines how the Vi-CELL BLU 2.0 software identifies, measures, and evaluates cells within a sample. Cell types can be optimized to improve cell recognition, debris exclusion, and measurement consistency for specific cell lines and applications.
What does the Minimum Cell Dark Contrast parameter control?
Minimum Cell Dark Contrast defines the difference required between the darkest region of an object and the surrounding background before that object is identified as a cell. Increasing the setting can help exclude debris and weakly contrasting objects, while decreasing it may allow additional objects to be included in the analysis.
