Patent ID: 9377390
Filing Date: 2016-06-28
CPC Classification: A01N,C12N,C12Q,G01N,Y10T

Claim Text:
1. A multi-channel system for classifying sperm cells according to one or more characteristics of the sperm cells, said system comprising: a plurality of flow channels, each of which directs sample fluid containing a mixture of sperm cells through an interrogation location when in use; a common fluid source in communication with each of the plurality of flow channels for supplying sheath fluid to surround the sample fluid in each of the plurality of flow channels; a common source of electromagnetic radiation for producing a beam of electromagnetic radiation; a beam splitter for producing multiple beams of electromagnetic radiation from the common source of electromagnetic radiation, wherein at least one of the multiple beams of electromagnetic radiation intersects the interrogation location associated with each flow channel; at least one detector which detects electromagnetic radiation from sperm cells at each interrogation location; said detector being operable to output a time-varying analog signal indicative of the intensity of the detected electromagnetic radiation; an analog to digital converter adapted to receive the time-varying analog signal as input and to sample the analog signal to produce a digitized output; and a processor operable to receive the digitized output and classify sperm cells in the mixture of sperm cells according to one or more characteristics of the sperm cells.