Pulse edge measurement for determining particle dimensional characteristics
First Claim
1. An analyzer adapted for connection to an output of a device of the type which conveys a particle through a beam of electromagnetic radiation and which responds to radiation resulting from interaction of the particle with the beam to output a resultant signal in the form of a pulse as the particle enters and passes through the beam, said analyzer serving to determine a dimensional attribute of the particle and comprising:
- means for measuring pulse edge width between two threshold values on at least one edge of the pulse as an indication of the particle attribute.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Method and apparatus for analyzing pulses from optical devices such as flow cytometers to generate indicators of particle dimensional attributes, such as size and shape, as well as orientations in a flow stream of non-spherical particles. Particles are conveyed through a beam of electromagnetic radiation and a photodetector responds to radiation resulting from interaction of the particle with the beam to output a resultant signal in the form of a pulse as a particle enters and passes through the beam. Pulse edge width between two threshold values, preferably established as constant fractions of peak pulse amplitude, is measured as an indication of a particle dimensional attribute.
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Citations
41 Claims
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1. An analyzer adapted for connection to an output of a device of the type which conveys a particle through a beam of electromagnetic radiation and which responds to radiation resulting from interaction of the particle with the beam to output a resultant signal in the form of a pulse as the particle enters and passes through the beam, said analyzer serving to determine a dimensional attribute of the particle and comprising:
means for measuring pulse edge width between two threshold values on at least one edge of the pulse as an indication of the particle attribute. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. Apparatus for determining an attribute of a particle, said apparatus comprising:
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means for conveying the particle through a beam of electromagnetic radiation; means responsive to radiation resulting from interaction of the particle with the beam to output a resultant signal in the form of a pulse as the particle enters and passes through the beam; means for measuring pulse edge width between two threshold values on at least one edge of the pulse as an indication of the particle attribute. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. Apparatus for obtaining orientation information for an asymmetrically-shaped particle being conveyed through a beam of electromagnetic radiation, said apparatus comprising:
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means responsive to radiation resulting from interaction of the particle with the beam to generate a signal in the form of a pulse as the particle enters and passes through the beam; first measurement means for measuring a characteristic of at least one edge of the pulse on a predetermined portion of the pulse edge, the pulse edge characteristic so measured being an indicator of the curvature of the portion of the particle which is first entering or last exiting the beam, depending upon whether said one edge of the pulse is the leading or the trailing edge; second measurement means for independently measuring another characteristic of the pulse to obtain an independent indication of particle size; and means responsive to the pulse edge characteristic measurement and to the other pulse characteristic measurement for correlating said measurements to yield orientation information. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. A method for analyzing the output pulse from a device of the type which conveys a particle through a beam of electromagnetic radiation and which responds to radiation resulting from interaction of the particle with the beam to output a resultant radiation intensity signal in the form of a pulse as the particle enters and passes through the beam, said method comprising:
measuring pulse edge width between two threshold values on at least one edge of the pulse as an indication of a particle attribute. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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27. An analyzer adapted for connection to an output of a device of the type which conveys a particle through a beam of electromagnetic radiation and which responds to radiation resulting from interaction of the particle with the beam to output a resultant signal in the form of a pulse as the particle enters and passes through the beam, said analyzer serving to determine an attribute of the particle and comprising:
means for measuring a characteristic of at least one edge of the pulse on a normalized basis with reference to peak pulse amplitude. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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30. Apparatus for determining an attribute of a particle, said apparatus comprising:
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means for conveying the particle through a beam of electromagnetic radiation; means responsive to radiation resulting from interaction of the particle with the beam to output a resultant signal in the form of a pulse as the particle enters and passes through the beam; and means for measuring a characteristic of at least one edge of the pulse on a normalized basis with reference to peak pulse amplitude. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A method for analyzing the output pulse from a device of the type which conveys a particle through a beam of electromagnetic radiation and which responds to radiation resulting from interaction of the particle with the beam to output a resultant radiation intensity signal in the form of a pulse as the particle enters and passes through the beam, said method comprising:
measuring a characteristic of at least one edge of the pulse on a normalized basis with reference to peak pulse amplitude to provide an indication of a particle attribute. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41)
Specification