University of Rochester

The University of Texas System

Eastman-kodak Company

Rochester Microsystems, Inc.

Mark A Corio

James F Leary

Scott R McLaughlin

An electronic circuit provides automatic compensation with reduced errors of undesirable offsets in analog and digital signals, including offsets in the input signal and offsets due to tolerances in components comprising said electronic circuit. The electronic circuit includes a minimum-hold circuit or, depending on the polarity of the signal of interest, a maximum-hold circuit to continuously determine the at-rest, or reference level of the input signal. The accuracy of compensation is therefore not a function of the duty cycle or amplitude of the input signal of interest.

System for compensating a signal for an offset from a reference level

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for flexibly controlling sorting decisions for a flow cytometer or similar instrument at a purity vs. yield ratio of sorted particles, particularly at high event rates. The system monitors distances between sequential objects to determine if they are in close enough proximity to be within a single resolution unit of the sorting device. The 'friend' or 'foe' status of neighboring events is considered by this system in dealing with detected 'coincident' events. The system operates on information of the desirability to sort the object, i.e. droplet, based upon the properties of the individual object. A storage and retrieval method is provided for making the information available at the time a sort operation based on a sorting logic condition is performed. Accordingly, an easily reconfigurable mode of operation control is provided to allow customized sorting strategies, based on the needs of individual applications or experiments. This system may be included as an integral part of a flow cytometer/cell sorter or similar instrument and may also be provided as an outboard module to such systems.

Method for flexibly sorting particles

A system for sorting particles is arranged such that the presence or absence of multiple parameters is determined for each particle in a flow of particles, and a logic condition is determined based on the multiple parameters. Thereafter, particles are outputted from the system when the logic condition is present. Accordingly, multiparameter high-speed measurements of a rare subpopulation of particles (e.g. biological cells) can be made amidst a larger population of particles with differing characteristics. When attached to a multiparameter flow cytometer/cell sorter and microcomputer, the system allows multiparameter analysis of cells at rates in excess of 100,000 cells/sec. This system can be an outboard module attached to a commercially available or home-built flow cytometer.

System for high-speed measurement and sorting of particles

System for flexibly sorting particles

A high dynamic range laser diode modulation scheme employs two laser diodes connected so that their outputs are added in a single optical fiber. The first diode is modulated over its dynamic range. The second diode is also modulated over its dynamic range, and is attenuated with a filter to provide fine level adjustment to the coarse levels provided by the first diode.

High dynamic range laser diode direct modulation

Multiple video boards of the general purpose type (e.g. EGA or VGA boards) and their associated monitors are operated by a single computer of the personal computer type, without modification of the computer hardware and while the video boards reside in their usual expansion slots which are provided by connectors on the mother board of the personal computer by a system which utilizes a flexible printed circuit board containing circuits which allows the processor (CPU) of the computer to present address and data signals which operate circuitry on the flexible boards to selectively enable or inhibit the communication of control signals (on the I/O and memory read and write control lines) to the video boards thereby enabling them to generate graphical images for their associated monitors. The signals on the address control and data lines are tapped and relayed either directly or after processing to the associated video board thereby enabling multiple video boards of the same or different types to be used concurrently by appropriate programming of the computer without the need to interchange hardware to switch between displays thereby reducing the inconvenience and potential hardware damage necessarily incident to such a hardware interchange procedure.

Growing community of inventors

Rochester, NY, United States of America

Mark A Corio