Patent ID: 8798951

Claim:
A system comprising: a fluidic flow-through chamber; a magnet and a mechanism for selectively positioning the magnet in proximity to an imaging region of the fluidic flow-through chamber; an illumination subsystem configured to illuminate the imaging region of the fluidic flow-through chamber; and a photosensitive detection subsystem configured to image the imaging region of the fluidic flow-through chamber when illuminated, wherein the photosensitive detection subsystem comprises a photosensitive detector, and a temperature sensor configured for detecting a temperature of the photosensitive detection subsystem; and a processor coupled to the temperature sensor, including a non-transitory memory device encoded with program instructions for regulating integration time of the photosensitive detector, wherein the integration time is an amount of time over which the photosensitive detector collects image data for a single image, the program instructions for regulating the integration time of the photosensitive detector comprising: recording a base temperature of the photosensitive detection subsystem via the processor; monitoring the temperature of the photosensitive detection subsystem via the processor; and adjusting the integration time of the photosensitive detector upon detecting a temperature change greater than a preset threshold.