Patent ID: 7440101

Claim:
A method for measuring the fluorescence of a particle having a plurality of dyes, the method comprising: a) interrogating a particle with a first excitation light source; b) detecting the interrogation of the particle with the first excitation light source using a scatter detector configured to only detect light from the first excitation light source; c) detecting any fluorescence emitted by the particle using a fluorescence detector when it is detected that the particle is being interrogated by the first excitation light source; d) interrogating a particle with a second excitation light source; e) detecting the interrogation of the particle with the second excitation light source using a scatter detector configured to only detect light from the second excitation light source; and f) detecting any fluorescence emitted by the particle using the fluorescence detector when it is detected that the particle is being interrogated by the second excitation light source; and dynamically assigning fluorescence detected in steps c) and f) to specific ones of the plurality of dyes depending on the excitation light sources.