INEXPENSIVE MODULAR FLOW CYTOMETERS: A NEW GENERATION

尽管流式细胞仪已经成为许多生物和医学领域研究细胞正常和异常行为的研究人员不可或缺的工具，但仪器的购置成本仍然很高。激光、试剂和电子技术的最新进展现在使使用廉价的二极管和固态激光光源、带有数字信号处理电子设备的多参数流动细胞仪成为可能，这种仪器的性能可以与现有仪器相媲美，在某些情况下，价格只需一小部分。该项目将开发和测试一种低成本的流式细胞仪，并评估改善此类仪器性能的光学和电子方法。拟议的商业应用将要开发的仪器应该会让数百个现在负担不起的实验室可以使用一项重要的技术。

Although flow cytometers have become indispensable to researchers in many areas of biology and medicine who study the normal and abnormal behavior of cells, acquisition costs of apparatus remain high. Recent advances in laser, reagent and electronic technology now make it possible to build multiparameter flow cytometers using inexpensive diode and solid-state laser sources, with digital signal processing electronics, which can match, and in some cases, surpass the performance of existing instruments for a fraction of the price. This project will develop and test a low-cost flow cytometer, and evaluate optical and electronic approaches to improving performance of such instruments. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION The apparatus to be developed should make an important technology available to hundreds of laboratories not now able to afford it.