Patent ID: 9134221
Filing Date: 2015-09-15
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
1. A system for flow cytometry, comprising: an input fluidic channel including a first port for receiving a sample fluid and a second port for outputting the received sample fluid; a particle sorting junction coupled to the second port of the input fluidic channel; branch fluidic channels coupled to the particle sorting junction as outlets of the sample liquid from the second port of the input fluidic channel; an actuator coupled to the particle sorting junction to control a direction of the sample fluid in the particle sorting junction in response to a sorting control signal, the actuator structured to interact with the sample fluid to change the direction of sample fluid to be in different directions corresponding to the branch fluidic channels, respectively, in response to changes in the sorting control signal, wherein the actuator is operable to direct a target particle in the sample fluid into a selected one of the branch fluidic channels; a particle detection module coupled to the input fluidic channel to receive light from the sample fluid in the input fluid channel, the particle detection module including an encoding structure that produces different optical signals from the received light and encodes the different optical signals with different codes; an optical detector that receives the different optical signals to produce a detector signal that carries information of the different optical signals and the different codes; and a particle sorter control module in communication with the particle detection module to receive the detector signal and in communication with the actuator to send the sorting control signal to the actuator, the particle sorter control module including a signal processing mechanism to extract information of the different optical signals from the detector signal based on the different codes in the different optical signals, and a control mechanism that produces the sorting control signal based on the extracted information, including timing of a particle detected at the particle detection module for arriving at the particle sorting junction.