Root system analyzer

I. Product Overview

The HD-GX02S root analysis system is intended for professional root analysis after root washing, and can also be used for root phenotyping of plants cultivated in root boxes. It analyses root length, diameter, area, volume and root tip counts, and offers powerful functions with simple operation. The software covers both the morphological analysis of plant roots and the overall structural distribution of the root system, and is therefore widely used in studies of root morphology and architecture.

II. Working Principle

The system uses a high-quality graphic scanner to acquire high-resolution colour or monochrome images of plant roots. A dedicated dual light source illumination system is installed below the scanning platen and inside the upper cover, and a dual light source calibration area is reserved on the platen. Dedicated high-transparency root trays of different sizes are also provided. During scanning, the light source below the platen and the light source in the upper cover pass over the root sample in the high-transparency tray at the same time, which avoids the shadows and uneven illumination that easily occur in root scanning and effectively guarantees image quality.

The analysis software reads images in the standard TIFF and JPEG formats. The acquired high-quality root images are analysed by means of dongle-protected software. Non-statistical methods are used to measure and calculate the basic morphological parameters of roots in the crossed and overlapping regions, including length, diameter, area, volume and root tips, so that researchers can study different categories and levels of plant roots.

III. Technical Specifications

1. Equipped with a 4800 × 9600 optical resolution, A3, dual light source colour scanner. The reflective scanning area for roots is 304.8 mm × 429.26 mm and the transparent scanning area is 304.8 mm × 403.86 mm, with a minimum pixel size of 0.005 mm × 0.0026 mm.

2. Measurable parameters:

(1) Total root length

(2) Branching frequency

(3) Mean root diameter

(4) Median root diameter

(5) Maximum diameter

(6) Total root surface area

(7) Total projected area

(8) Total root volume

(9) Root tip count

(10) Fork count

(11) Overlap count

(12) Root diameter class distribution parameters

(13) User-defined diameter classes at unequal intervals, with automatic measurement of the length, projected area, surface area and volume of each class together with their distribution parameters

(14) Root colour analysis, outputting the diameter, length, projected area, surface area and volume of roots in different colours

(15) Root topology analysis, automatically determining the number of connections and relationship angles; any single root segment can also be analysed separately for length, area and volume, and the parameters of any diameter class of a marked root system can be displayed individually (user-definable at unequal intervals)

(16) Correction of root forks, trimming, merging and connection, with undo support, so that a 100% correct result can be obtained quickly

(17) Automatic determination of the root fractal dimension by the box-counting method; root nodule counting is also available to objectively quantify the contribution of rhizobium

(18) Fully automatic batch root analysis with batch saving: all data can be summarised in one table, or the detailed data of each root system can be saved individually

(19) Gravitropic angle analysis and horizontal angle analysis for extraction of analytical features

(20) All analysed images, distribution maps and result data can be saved and exported to Excel; marked analysis images can also be output

(21) Cloud platform support: analysis data can be stored in the cloud and viewed at any time and anywhere

(22) Built-in bilingual Chinese/English display with one-key switching

IV. Image Acquisition System Parameters

V. System Requirements

1. A computer is required. Recommended configuration: a brand-name PC (Intel Core i5 9th generation or above / 16 GB memory / 21.5-inch colour monitor / wireless network card / at least four USB ports, one of them USB 3.0, running a full version of Windows 10 Professional or Ultimate).

2. Compatible with Windows 10 and above.