Method for selecting particles
OwnerRudolf Riglerinventor
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Abstract
The invention relates to a method for selecting particles having a predetermined property from a population of a multiplicity of different particles and to a device suitable for carrying out said method.
Claims19
A method for selecting a particle having a predetermined property from a population comprising a multiplicity of different particles, comprising the following steps:
- (a) providing a population of different particles,
- (b) labeling particles which have a said predetermined property,
- (c) passing the particles in a microchannel through a detection element which can distinguish between labeled and unlabeled particles,
- (d) removing labeled particles, and
- (e) repeating at least once the steps (c) and (d), reducing the concentration of said particles in a subsequent cycle compared to a preceding cycle.
The method as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the concentration in the first selection cycle of the particles passed through the microchannel is in the range from 108 to 1014 per 100 μl of sample volume.
The method as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the particle concentration is reduced by at least a factor of 104 in a subsequent process cycle.
The method as claimed in any of the preceding claims, furthermore comprising identifying or/and characterizing a particle having the predetermined property.
The method as claimed in any of the preceding claims, furthermore comprising a preselective affinity step in which the labeled particles are exposed to conditions under which relatively weakly labeled particles lose their label.
A device for selecting a particle having a predetermined property from a population comprising a multiplicity of different particles, comprising:
- (a) an optically transparent microchannel,
- (b) means for introducing particles into said microchannel,
- (c) means for detecting a label on a particle passed through said microchannel,
- (d) means for removing a labeled particle from unlabeled particles,
- which device is characterized in that the means (c) and (d) are designed in such a way that they provide for repeating at least once the detection/removal procedure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.