Patent ID: 8171777

Claim:
A method of correlating pulses generated from multiple interrogation regions in a flow cytometer to a particular particle, comprising: calibrating the flow cytometer using a calibration particle having a unique signature to determine a time-of-flight for particles flowing through the flow cytometer, wherein the calibrating comprises: receiving a signal from a first detector and a signal from a second detector, where the first and second detectors are separate detectors; identifying the signals from the first detector and the second detector as signals that correspond to the calibration particle; and calculating the time of flight of the calibration particle using a time difference between signal pulses received from the first and second collector that correspond to the calibration particle; assigning a pulse on a channel of the first collector to a particular particle flowing through the cytometer which is distinct from the calibration particle; identifying a pulse on a channel of the second collector generated at a point in time in accordance with the time-of-flight and spacing between interrogation points of the flow cytometer corresponding to the first and second collectors; and assigning the pulse on the channel of the second collector to the particular particle.