Systems and user interface for collecting a data set in a flow cytometer

• US 10,481,074 B2
• Filed: 06/22/2018
• Issued: 11/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Becton, Dickinson & Co
• Original Assignee: Becton, Dickinson & Co
• Inventors: Rich, Collin A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Hoa Q
• Application Number:
  US16/015,807
• Publication Number:
  US 20180364145A1
• Time in Patent Office: 515 Days
• Field of Search: 356335-343, 356 73, 356300, 356319, 356320, 356326
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 3/0208 using focussing or collimating elements, e.g. lenses or mirrors; performing aberration correction
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 3/0229 using masks, aperture plates, spatial light modulators or spatial filters, e.g. reflective filters
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 3/18 using diffraction elements, e.g. grating gratings per se G02B
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 3/2803 using photoelectric array detector
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 3/36 Investigating two or more bands of a spectrum by separate detectors
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 15/14 Optical investigation techniques, e.g. flow cytometry
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 15/1404 Handling flow, e.g. hydrodynamic focusing
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 15/1429 Signal processing
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 15/1434 Optical arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06M 11/02 using an electron beam scanning a surface line by line, e.g. of blood cells on a substrate
• CPC Class Codes: G16B 45/00 ICT specially adapted for bioinformatics-related data visualisation, e.g. displaying of maps or networks
• CPC Class Codes: G16B 5/00 ICT specially adapted for modelling or simulations in systems biology, e.g. gene-regulatory networks, protein interaction networks or metabolic networks
• CPC Class Codes: G16B 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass

Abstract

Systems in a flow cytometer having an interrogation zone and illumination impinging the interrogation zone include: a lens subsystem including a collimating element that collimates light from the interrogation zone, a light dispersion element that disperses collimated light into a light spectrum, and a focusing lens that focuses the light spectrum onto an array of adjacent detection points; a detector array, including semiconductor detector devices, that collectively detects a full spectral range of input light signals, in which each detector device detects a subset spectral range of the full spectral range of light signals; and a user interface that enables a user to create a set of virtual detector channels by grouping detectors in the detector array, such that each virtual detector channel corresponds to a detector group and has a virtual detector channel range including the sum of subset spectral ranges of the detectors in the corresponding detector group.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a light source for irradiating a sample in a flow stream;

a light dispersion component configured to disperse a spectrum of light from the sample; and

a light detection component comprising;

a plurality of detectors; and

a plurality of detector channels, wherein each detector channel corresponds to a user-configurable group of one or more detectors.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the detectors of each detector channel are assigned based on a fluorophore present in the sample.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the detectors of each detector channel are assigned to minimize spillover between detector channels.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the dispersion component comprises a dispersive prism.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the dispersion component comprises a diffraction grating.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the light detection component comprises an array of detectors.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the light detection component comprises a linear array of detectors.

8. The system according to claim 6, wherein the light detection component comprises an array of photodiodes.

9. The system according to claim 6, wherein the light detection component comprises an array of phototransistors.

10. The system according to claim 6, wherein the array of detectors is configured to detect light from 400 nm to 900 nm.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein the array of detectors comprises 50 or more detectors that each detect light in 10 nm increments.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the spectral range of each detector in the array overlaps with adjacent detectors.

13. The system according to claim 1, wherein the light detection component further comprises an amplifier circuit comprising a plurality of amplifiers configured to convert current from each detector channel into a voltage output signal.

14. The system according to claim 1, wherein the light detection component further comprises an optical adjustment component.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the optical adjustment component comprises a lens that propagates light from the sample.

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein the optical adjustment component comprises a focusing lens.

17. The system according to claim 1, wherein the light source comprises a laser.

18. A method comprising:

analyzing a sample with a system comprising;

a light source for irradiating the sample in a flow stream;

a light dispersion component configured to disperse a spectrum of light from the sample; and

a light detection component comprising;

a plurality of detectors; and

a plurality of detector channels, wherein each detector channel corresponds to a user-configurable group of one or more detectors.

19. A system comprising:

a light source for irradiating a sample in a flow stream;

a light dispersion component configured to disperse a spectrum of light from the sample; and

a light detection component comprising;

a plurality of detectors comprising an array of detectors, wherein the spectral range of each detector in the array overlaps with adjacent detectors; and

a plurality of detector channels, wherein each detector channel corresponds to one or more detectors.