Apparatus and method for the detection and classification of articles using flow cytometry techniques
First Claim
1. A flow cytometry apparatus for the detection of biological particles of interest from a sample of unknown biological particles comprising:
- means for moving particles from a sample of biological particles of an unknown class, substantially one at a time, in a fluid flow stream;
means for providing an incident beam of illumination directed at the particles in said flow stream;
means for detecting light-related data associated with each moving particle as the particle passes through said beam of illumination;
means for storing data representing a known class of particles having common characteristics based on light data collected from such known class of particles;
means for applying such stored data to light data detected from sample particles of said unknown class in order to match patterns between the data of the known and unknown particles; and
means for recognizing that particles from said unknown class belong to said known class as a result of matching patterns of respective light-related data.
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Accused Products
Abstract
This invention concerns a flow apparatus and method for the detection of particles in a sample. Particles are moved, substantially one at a time, in a fluid flow stream. An incident beam of illumination is provided so as to be directed at the particles in the flow stream. Data associated with each moving particle as it passes through the beam of illumination is detected. A class of particles is established, these particles having common characteristics based on the data detected from such class of particles. The data is then stored. Such stored data is compared to data detected from sample particles of an unknown class. A determination is then made that particles from the unknown class belong to the established class as a result of matching respective data.
291 Citations
69 Claims
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1. A flow cytometry apparatus for the detection of biological particles of interest from a sample of unknown biological particles comprising:
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means for moving particles from a sample of biological particles of an unknown class, substantially one at a time, in a fluid flow stream; means for providing an incident beam of illumination directed at the particles in said flow stream; means for detecting light-related data associated with each moving particle as the particle passes through said beam of illumination; means for storing data representing a known class of particles having common characteristics based on light data collected from such known class of particles; means for applying such stored data to light data detected from sample particles of said unknown class in order to match patterns between the data of the known and unknown particles; and means for recognizing that particles from said unknown class belong to said known class as a result of matching patterns of respective light-related data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An apparatus for the detection of particles in a sample comprising:
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sensing means, including a sensing zone, for sensing characteristic features of particles; means for moving particles of an unknown class, substantially one at a time, in a fluid flow stream through said sensing zone; means for detecting data associated with the characteristic features of each moving particle as the particle passes through said sensing zone; means for storing data from a known class of particles having common characteristics in accordance with a pattern of data collected from such known class of particles; and means for recognizing that sample particles from said unknown class belong to said known class responsive to the recognition of said pattern by data detected from said sample particles.
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19. A flow cytometry apparatus for the detection of biological particles of interest from a heterogeneous population of biological particles comprising:
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means for moving particles, substantially one at a time, in a liquid flow stream; means for providing an incident beam of illumination directed at the particles in said flow stream; means for simultaneously detecting light scattered by and fluorescence emitted from each moving particle as the particle passes through said beam of illumination; means for storing data representing a known class of particles having common characteristics based on scattered light and fluorescence data collected from such known class of particles; means for transforming light data detected from sample particles of an unknown class in order to cluster the data points so transformed; means for extracting features from said stored data for the discrimination of data related to said unknown particles; and means associated with said transforming and said extracting means for determining that particles from said unknown class belong to said known class as a result of matching patterns of respective light-related data.
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20. A flow cytometry apparatus for the detection and classification of biological particles of interest from a sample of an unknown class of biological particles comprising:
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means for moving particles from a sample of unknown biological particles, substantially one at a time, in a fluid flow stream; means for providing an incident beam of illumination directed at the particles in said flow stream; means for detecting light-related data associated with each moving particle as the particle passes through said beam of illumination; means for storing data representing a known class of particles having common characteristics based on said light data collected from such known class of particles; means for separating data from said known class into a plurality of subclasses thereof, each subclass having its light-related data stored separately; means for applying such stored data to light data detected from sample particles of said unknown class in order to match patterns between the data of the known and unknown particles; and means for recognizing that particles from said unknown class belong to said known class as a result of matching patterns of respective light-related data and for identifying the subclasses to which the unknown particles belong. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. An apparatus for the detection and classification of particles in a sample comprising:
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sensing means, including a sensing zone, for sensing characteristic features of particles; means for moving particles of an unknown class, substantially one at a time, in a fluid flow stream through said sensing zone; means for detecting data associated with the characteristic features of each moving particle as the particle passes through said sensing zone; means for storing data from a plurality of known subclasses of particles each having common characteristics in accordance with a pattern of data collected from such known subclasses of particles; and means for recognizing that sample particles from said unknown class belong to said known subclasses responsive to the recognition of said patterns by data detected from said sample particles.
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38. A method for detecting biological particles of interest from a sample of an unknown class of biological particles comprising:
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moving particles from a sample of unknown biological particles, substantially one at a time, in a fluid flow stream; providing an incident beam of illumination directed at the particles in said flow stream; detecting light-related data associated with each moving particle as the particle passes through said beam of illumination; storing data representing a known class of particles having common characteristics based on light data collected from such known class of particles; applying such stored data to light data detected from sample particles of said unknown class in order to match patterns between the data of the known and unknown particles; and recognizing that particles from said unknown class belong to said known class as a result of matching patterns of respective light-related data. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
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50. A method for detecting particles in a sample comprising:
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moving particles, substantially one at a time, in a fluid flow stream through a sensing zone; detecting data associated with characteristic features of each moving particle as the particle passes through said sensing zone; storing data from a known class of particles having common characteristics in accordance with a pattern of data collected from such known class of particles; and recognizing that sample particles from an unknown class belong to said known class responsive to the recognition of said pattern by data detected from said sample particles.
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51. A method for detecting particles in a sample comprising:
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storing data from a class of particles having known, common characteristics in accordance with a pattern of data collected from such class of known particles; and recognizing that sample particles from an unknown class belong to said known class responsive to the recognition of said pattern by data detected from said unknown sample particles.
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52. A method for detecting and classifying biological particles of interest from a sample of an unknown class of biological particles comprising:
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moving particles from a sample of unknown biological particles, substantially one at a time, in a fluid flow stream; providing an incident beam of illumination directed at the particles in said flow stream; detecting light-related data associated with each moving particle as the particle passes through said beam of illumination; storing data representing a known class of particles having common characteristics based on said light data collected from such known class of particles; separating data from said known class into a plurality of subclasses thereof, each subclass having its light-related data stored separately; applying such stored data to light data detected from sample particles of said unknown class in order to match patterns between the data of the known and unknown particles; and recognizing that particles from said unknown class belong to said known class as a result of matching patterns of respective light-related data and identifying the subclasses to which the unknown particles belong. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67)
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68. A method for detecting and classifying particles in a sample comprising:
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moving particles of an unknown class, substantially one at a time, in a fluid flow stream through a sensing zone; detecting data associated with characteristic features of each moving particle as the particle passes through said sensing zone; storing data from a plurality of subclasses of particles each having known common characteristics in accordance with patterns of data associated with such known subclasses of particles; and recognizing that sample particles from said unknown class belong to said known subclasses responsive to the recognition of said patterns by data associated with said sample particles.
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69. A method for detecting and classifying particles in a sample comprising:
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storing data from a plurality of subclasses of particles each having known common characteristics in accordance with patterns of data associated with such known subclasses of particles; and recognizing that sample particles from an unknown class belong to said known subclasses responsive to the recognition of said patterns by data associated with said unknown sample particles.
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Specification