DEN-1 densitometer is factory calibrated and able to measure turbidity in the range of 0.3 to 5.0 McFarland units with a small standard deviation. The range can be extended up to 15 McFarland units but with a concomitant increase in the standard deviation. It can also be user calibrated with commercial standards or cell suspensions prepared in the laboratory. Accurate to ±3%, the unit features a light diode at 565nm wavelength and boasts a measurement time of around one second per sample.

The DEN-1 is very compact - measuring just 165 x 115 x 75mm, has a bright 2 digit LED display and is compatible with 16 or 18mm test tubes. The unit is mains powered, a battery-powered version will be available in the near future. The DEN-1 densitometer is robust and reliable and comes with a 2-year warranty.

Typical applications for the new densitometer include determining the concentration of cells (bacterial and yeast) in fermentation processes, detecting the susceptibility of micro-organisms to antibiotics, identifying micro-organisms with various test systems, and measuring optical density at fixed wavelength.