Flow cytometry and apparatus therefor
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for flow cytometry comprising:
- a flow cell through which a sheathed stream flows;
a triggering light source which continuously emits a light beam on the sheathed stream;
a cell sensor for generating a cell detection signal upon sensing that a cell has traversed the light beam from said triggering light source;
a delay circuit for transmitting the cell detection signal to an image pick-up laser pulse light source after delaying the cell detection signal for a fixed period of time;
said image pick-up laser pulse light source emitting a pulse of laser light onto the flow cell to illuminate the cell sensed by the cell sensor;
a condenser lens for condensing laser light emitted by said image pick-up laser pulse light source;
means arranged downstream of said condenser lens and immediately upstream from said flow cell for reducing the coherence of the laser light emitted onto the flow tube from said image pick-up laser pulse light source;
an objective lens and a CCD camera for taking a still picture of cells flowing through the sheathed stream when the cells are illuminated by the pulse of laser light condensed by said condenser lens; and
a picture processor for processing and analyzing the still picture obtained.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for flow cytometry in which laser light pulses are focused on a sheathed stream, a still picture of cells passing by the region of the focal point is taken by an objective lens-CCD camera combination, the still picture obtained is processed and analyzed to acquire information relating to the shape and internal state of individual cells, and the cells are subjected to analysis based on the information acquired.
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Citations
2 Claims
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1. An apparatus for flow cytometry comprising:
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a flow cell through which a sheathed stream flows; a triggering light source which continuously emits a light beam on the sheathed stream; a cell sensor for generating a cell detection signal upon sensing that a cell has traversed the light beam from said triggering light source; a delay circuit for transmitting the cell detection signal to an image pick-up laser pulse light source after delaying the cell detection signal for a fixed period of time; said image pick-up laser pulse light source emitting a pulse of laser light onto the flow cell to illuminate the cell sensed by the cell sensor; a condenser lens for condensing laser light emitted by said image pick-up laser pulse light source; means arranged downstream of said condenser lens and immediately upstream from said flow cell for reducing the coherence of the laser light emitted onto the flow tube from said image pick-up laser pulse light source; an objective lens and a CCD camera for taking a still picture of cells flowing through the sheathed stream when the cells are illuminated by the pulse of laser light condensed by said condenser lens; and a picture processor for processing and analyzing the still picture obtained. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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Specification
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Current AssigneeToa Medical Electronics Co., Ltd.
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Original AssigneeToa Medical Electronics Co., Ltd.
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InventorsYamamoto, Hiroshi, Tomioka, Atsuo
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Primary Examiner(s)McGraw, Vincent P.
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Application NumberUS07/010,777Time in Patent Office657 DaysField of Search356/23, 356/39, 356/72, 356/73, 382/6, 350/431US Class Current356/23CPC Class CodesG01N 15/1433 using image recognitionG01N 15/147 the analysis being performe...
