BactCounter

Salma Kechaou

About this app

BactCounter is a fast, accurate colony counter for Petri dishes. It uses on-device image processing (OpenCV) to detect the dish, segment colonies, and give you a clean, exportable count—no internet required.

WHO IT’S FOR
• Microbiology students and educators
• Research and teaching labs
• Quality control and food/water testing labs

KEY FEATURES
• Automatic Petri dish detection and masking
• Robust colony detection with adjustable thresholds and filters
• Colour channel / contrast options to handle different media and stains
• Manual add/remove to correct edge cases in seconds
• Calibration (µm per pixel) for size-based filtering
• Batch mode: process multiple plates quickly
• Exports: CSV (counts, parameters) and annotated PNG overlays
• Works fully offline; no ads, no subscriptions
• Dark mode and touch-friendly UI

HOW TO USE
1) Place the plate on a high-contrast background under even lighting.
2) Frame the entire dish; avoid glare and strong shadows.
3) Capture the image and review the preview mask.
4) Adjust thresholds if needed; tap to manually add/remove outliers.
5) Export counts and overlays (CSV/PNG) or save to your device.

TIPS FOR ACCURACY
• Use diffuse light; avoid reflections
• Keep the plate centred and in focus
• Prefer uniform backgrounds and fill the frame

DATA & PRIVACY
• All processing happens on-device
• No data leaves your phone
• Camera access is used only to capture images for counting

LIMITATIONS & DISCLAIMER
BactCounter is intended for education and research support. It is not a medical device and must not be used for clinical diagnosis or patient care. Results can vary with imaging conditions; always verify with laboratory best practices.

SUPPORT
Questions or feedback? Contact us from the app’s Help menu. We’re continuously improving the accuracy and adding new tools based on your lab workflows.

What’s new

First public release of BactCounter.

• Automatic colony detection from Petri dish images
• Image processing with optimized detection accuracy
• Manual correction tools for precise counting
• Improved performance and stability

Thank you for using BactCounter.