– Color QCount Now Easier, Faster to Use –

NORWOOD, MASS. – May 19, 2009 – Spiral Biotech Inc., an Advanced Instruments Inc. company, today announced a major software release that adds automatic shutter speed selection and many other features to its Color QCount® bacterial colony counter. The software both improves the instrument’s ease of use and speeds its performance.

“The Spiral Biotech Color QCount automated counter is already the industry leader. With this software release, the Color QCount dramatically advances the science of automated bacterial colony counting for researchers,” said Anthony Pappas, National Sales Manager, Advanced Instruments.

Among the added features, the Color QCount now:

Automatically recognizes and identifies the entire spectrum of colors as well as distinguishes among the varying shades within any particular color. If desired, users can also easily define their own color settings or range of settings.

Optimizes camera operations, including shutter settings, to detect and eliminate potential problems caused by changes in lighting conditions.

Other improvements include the addition of true “plug & play” functionality with other laboratory devices, and a new one-touch set up for colony reading.

“As a result, the Color QCount is clearly the easiest-to-use fully-automated bacterial colony counter available on the market,” Pappas said.

The Color QCount illuminates the way for faster, easier, and more accurate automated microbial enumeration. Utilizing the latest digital FireWire™ technology, the Color QCount allows users to capture full color sample images –while its patented technology breaks through the limitations of clustered colonies to deliver sharp, error-free plate counts. The Color QCount’s ease of use allows technicians to read plates quickly and efficiently — resulting in an extraordinary saving of time that can now be better allocated to the performance of other important responsibilities.

The Color QCount is ideal for food and pharmaceutical research applications where high throughput and precise characterization of microorganisms, such as Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli, are essential.

The Color QCount software release is available immediately from Spiral Biotech. For more information, visit Spiral Biotech at the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) 2009 General Meeting in Philadelphia, May 17-21, in exhibit number 133.

Or, visit the website at www.spiralbiotech.com, or call 1-800-554-1620 or 1-781-320-9000.

About Spiral Biotech, Inc.

For more than 30 years Spiral Biotech, Inc., a subsidiary of Advanced Instruments, has produced a line of automated microbiology systems for hospital laboratory and clinical laboratory applications. The company focuses on automating the pre-analytical and analytical steps involved with traditional microbial enumeration with a product line that includes colony counters, plating systems, anaerobic workstations, susceptibility test software, air samplers and sample prep tools. For more information, contact Spiral Biotech on the web at www.spiralbiotech.com or at 1-800-554-1620 or 1-781-320-9000.

About Advanced Instruments, Inc.

Founded in 1955, Advanced Instruments, Inc. (www.aicompanies.com) is the world’s largest supplier of freezing-point cryoscopes and osmometers used in dairy, clinical, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology laboratories. The company is also a leading supplier of analytical instruments for the food and industrial microbiology markets. Based in Norwood, Massachusetts, USA, the privately held company also produces Fiske® Associates brand diagnostic instruments and operates Spiral Biotech, Inc., D & F Control Systems, Inc., Mart Microbiology, and Delta Instruments as wholly-owned subsidiaries. A worldwide network of direct sales people and independent distributors supports Advanced Instruments’ products.