Automated microscopes

A common technique in the biological sciences it to count the number of colony forming units in a sample by plating the sample, incubating, and then counting the number of colonies.

I wonder whether it might be possible to skip the incubation step and directly count the colony forming units (or potentially single cells). The process would involve plating the sample as normal (i.e. spreading over a thin area - possibly larger than a normal petri dish?). I imagine a microscope where the lens position and focus are controlled by stepper motors (with a fine thread screw). The lens is connected to a digital camera. The lens is moved over the sample, location by location, with an image collected at each location. Image recognition is then used to count the number of cells / colony forming units.

I'm also wondering if it's possible to individually manage/monitor/interact-with cells (or colony-forming units) if their location on a slide can be recorded, and hence the location re-visited.