Patent ID: 8198093

Claim:
A method of sorting particles in a flow cytometer comprising the steps of: a. establishing a mathematical model based upon extracted features of waveform pulses produced by stained particles when run through the flow cytometer, wherein the particles flowing through the flow cytometer belong to at least a first population or a second population, wherein the mathematical model represents a statistical distribution of extracted features of the waveform pulses; b. analyzing the waveform pulses produced by stained particles flowing through the flow cytometer to determine a probability each particle belongs to the first population and the second population based upon the mathematical model; c. assigning each stained particle a value based upon the probabilities associated with belonging to the first population or the second population; d. establishing a decision boundary; e. modifying the value assigned to each stained particle relative to the decision boundary based upon a purity or quantity of the first population or of the second population; and f. separating the stained particles based upon their modified relationship relative to the decision boundary.