Apparatus and methods for sorting particles
First Claim
1. A flow cytometry system for sorting a mixture of particles including particles having a characteristic A and particles having a characteristic B comprising:
- a fluid delivery system for delivering a fluid containing said particles;
a flow cytometry apparatus for receiving said fluid, forming the fluid into a stream and using flow cytometry to classify the particles according to said characteristics;
a sorting system in communication with the flow cytometry apparatus for sorting the particles according to said classification and according to a sorting strategy to provide at least one population containing desired particles, wherein the desired particles are selected from the group of particles having either characteristic A or characteristic B and;
a control responsive to information received from the flow cytometry apparatus for;
controlling the sorting system to vary its sorting strategy as a function of at least one of the following;
(1) the purity of said at least one population with respect to either characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles; and
(2) the quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in said at least one so sulation relative to the total suantit of characteristic A sarticles or characteristic B particles in said stream; and
/orcontrolling the fluid delivery system to vary the rate at which fluid is delivered as a function of at least one of the following;
(1) the purity of said at least one population with respect to either characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles; and
(2) the quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in said at least one population relative to the total quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in said stream.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A flow cytometry system and method for sorting a mixture of particles with a fluid delivery system delivering a fluid containing particles, a flow cytometry apparatus for receiving the fluid, forming the fluid into a stream and using flow cytometry to classify the particles according to certain characteristics; a sorting system for sorting the particles according to the classification and according to a sorting strategy to provide at least one population containing desired particles and; a control responsive to information received from the flow cytometry apparatus for controlling the sorting system to vary its sorting strategy or for controlling the fluid delivery system to vary the rate at which fluid is delivered as a function at least one of purity and quantity of the particles.
614 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A flow cytometry system for sorting a mixture of particles including particles having a characteristic A and particles having a characteristic B comprising:
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a fluid delivery system for delivering a fluid containing said particles; a flow cytometry apparatus for receiving said fluid, forming the fluid into a stream and using flow cytometry to classify the particles according to said characteristics; a sorting system in communication with the flow cytometry apparatus for sorting the particles according to said classification and according to a sorting strategy to provide at least one population containing desired particles, wherein the desired particles are selected from the group of particles having either characteristic A or characteristic B and; a control responsive to information received from the flow cytometry apparatus for; controlling the sorting system to vary its sorting strategy as a function of at least one of the following;
(1) the purity of said at least one population with respect to either characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles; and
(2) the quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in said at least one so sulation relative to the total suantit of characteristic A sarticles or characteristic B particles in said stream; and
/orcontrolling the fluid delivery system to vary the rate at which fluid is delivered as a function of at least one of the following;
(1) the purity of said at least one population with respect to either characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles; and
(2) the quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in said at least one population relative to the total quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in said stream. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method of using a flow cytometry system to sort a mixture of particles including particles having a characteristic A and particles having a characteristic B, said method comprising:
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delivering a fluid containing said particles to a flow cytometer; forming the fluid into a stream and using the flow cytometer to classify the particles in the stream according to said characteristics; sorting the particles in the stream according to said classification and according to a sorting strategy thereby to provide at least one population containing desired particles, wherein the desired particles are selected from the group of particles having either characteristic A or characteristic B; and varying the sorting strategy as a function of at least one of the following; (1) the purity of said at least one population with respect to either characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles; and
(2) the quantity of characteristic A articles or characteristic B particles in said at least one population relative to the total quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in said stream; and
/orvarying the rate at which fluid is delivered to said flow cytometer as a function of at least one of the following;
(1) the purity of said at least one population with respect to either characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles; and
(2) the quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in said at least one population relative to the total quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in said stream. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. A system for sorting a mixture of particles including particles having a characteristic A and particles having a characteristic B, said system comprising:
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a fluid delivery system for delivering a fluid stream containing said particles; a flow cytometry apparatus for receiving said stream, forming droplets containing said particles, and sorting said droplets into different populations according to a sorting strategy, said droplets including first droplets each containing one or more particles having characteristic A, second droplets each containing one or more particles having characteristic B and third droplets each containing one or more particles having characteristic A and one or more particles having characteristic B; and a control responsive to information received from the flow cytometry apparatus for; controlling the flow cytometry apparatus to vary the sorting strategy as a function of at least one of the following;
(1) the purity of at least one droplet population with respect to either characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles; and
(2) the quantity of characteristic A s articles or characteristic B particles in at least one droplet population relative to the total quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in said stream; and
/orcontrolling the fluid delivery system to vary the rate at which fluid is delivered as a function of at least one of the following;
(1) the purity of at least one droplet population with respect to either characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles; and
(2) the quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in at least one droplet population relative to the total quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in said stream. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of sorting a mixture of particles including particles having a characteristic A and particles having a characteristic B, said method comprising:
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delivering a fluid stream containing said particles to a flow cytometer forming droplets containing said particles from the fluid stream in the flow cytometer; sorting said droplets into different populations according to a sorting strategy, said droplets including first droplets each containing one or more particles having characteristic A, second droplets each containing one or more particles having characteristic B and third droplets each containing one or more particles having characteristic A and one or more particles having characteristic B; and varying the sorting strategy as a function of at least one of the following; (1) the purity of at least one droplet population with respect to either characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles; and
(2) the quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in at least one droplet population relative to the total quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in said fluid stream; and
/orvarying the rate at which fluid is delivered to the flow cytometer as a function of at least one of the following;
(1) the purity of at least one droplet population with respect to either characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles; and
(2) the quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in at least one droplet population relative to the total quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in said fluid stream. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A system for sorting X and Y sperm cells, said system comprising:
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a variable rate fluid delivery system for delivering a fluid stream containing X and Y sperm cells; a flow cytometry apparatus for (1) receiving said stream and forming droplets containing said X and Y sperm cells, said droplets comprising first droplets each containing one or more X sperm cells, second droplets each containing one or more Y sperm cells, and third plurality of droplets each containing one or more X sperms cells and one or more Y sperm cells, (2) sorting said first droplets from said second and third droplets, (3) collecting said first droplets to provide at least one population of X sperm cells, and (4) identifying a quantity of X sperm cells in the at least one population; and a control responsive to instructions received from the flow cytometer apparatus for varying the rate at which the fluid is delivered to the flow cytometer apparatus as a function of the quantity of identified X sperm cells in said at least one population relative to the total number of X cells in said first and third droplets. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. A method of sorting X and Y sperm cells, said method comprising:
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delivering a fluid stream containing X and Y sperm cells to a first location and causing said stream to break into droplets at a second location, said droplets comprising first droplets each containing one or more X sperm cells, second droplets each containing one or more Y sperm cells, and third plurality of droplets each containing one or more X sperms cells and one or more Y sperm cells; sorting said first droplets from said second and third droplets; collecting said first droplets to provide at least one population of X sperm cells; identifying a quantity of X sperm cells collected in said at least one population; and varying the rate at which fluid is delivered to said first location as a function of the quantity of identified X sperm cells collected in said at least one population relative to the total number of X cells in said first and third droplets. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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26. A system for sorting X and Y sperm cells, said system comprising:
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a variable rate fluid delivery system for delivering a fluid stream containing X and Y sperm cells; a flow cytometer apparatus for (1) receiving said stream and forming droplets containing said X and Y sperm cells, said droplets comprising first droplets each containing one or more X sperm cells, second droplets each containing one or more Y sperm cells, and third plurality of droplets each containing one or more X sperms cells and one or more Y sperm cells, (2) sorting said second and third droplets from said first droplets, (3) collecting said second and third droplets to provide at least one population of Y sperm cells, and (4) identifying a quantity of Y sperm cells in the at least one population; and a control responsive to instructions received from the flow cytometer apparatus for varying the rate at which the fluid is delivered to the flow cytometer apparatus as a function of the quantity of identified Y sperm cells in said at least one population. - View Dependent Claims (27)
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28. A method of sorting X and Y sperm cells, said method comprising:
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delivering a fluid stream containing X and Y sperm cells to a first location and causing said stream to break into droplets at a second location, said droplets comprising first droplets each containing one or more X sperm cells, second droplets each containing one or more Y sperm cells, and third plurality of droplets each containing one or more X sperms cells and one or more Y sperm cells; sorting said second and third droplets from said first droplets; collecting said second and third droplets to provide at least one population of Y sperm cells; identifying a quantity of Y sperm cells collected in said at least one population; and varying the rate at which fluid is delivered to said first location as a function of the quantity of identified Y sperm cells collected in said at least one population. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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Specification