Method and apparatus for monitoring and optimizing microfluidic particle sorting

A particle processing system comprising:

• a microfluidic sort module having a branched flow-channel defined in a substrate to receive a stream of particles, the branched flow-channel including a flow-path that branches at a branch point into a first output branch channel and a second output branch channel, the microfluidic sort module further having a particle sorter operable to selectively sort particles between the first output branch channel and the second output branch channel;
• a first sensor system optically coupled to the flow-path upstream of the branch point having focusing optics and a first optical sensor to sense a particle characteristic of a particle flowing through the flow path to control a sorting operation of the microfluidic sort module;
• a capillary tube fluidically coupled to one of the first output branch channel or the second output branch channel;
• and
• a sort monitoring system having a second sensor system optically coupled to the capillary tube to monitor a performance of the sorting operation by detecting and collecting particle data that characterizes individual particles downstream of the particle sorter using focusing optics to direct light through the capillary tube and onto a second optical sensor to determine a statistically-based characteristic of a composition of a sorted sample from the data collected from the individual particles detected downstream of the particle sorter, and
• wherein the sort monitoring system is configured to real-time evaluate the statistically-based characteristic of the composition of the sorted sample.