Electrical conductive containment system
OwnerPeter A. Lopez, Peter A. Lopez +1inventors
InventorsPeter A. Lopez, Peter A. Lopez, Kris S. Buchanan
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Abstract
Specifically, electrically conductive droplet collection containers (12) that enhance the collection and retention of electrostatically deflected droplets (13) containing particles (27) formed in a fluid stream (21) in applications such as flow cytometry.
Claims62
A method of flow cytometry, comprising:
- a. establishing a fluid stream;
- b. entraining particles in said fluid stream;
- c. perturbing said fluid stream;
- d. forming droplets some of which contain said particles;
- e. analyzing said particles contained by said droplets;
- f. charging said droplets based upon analysis of at least one characteristic of said particles;
- g. deflecting said droplets based upon electrical charge of said droplet;
- h. dissipating electrical charge of a droplet collection element;
- and
- i. collecting said droplets in said droplet collection element.
A material containment device, comprising:
- a. a container body configured to have at least one material containment element;
- b. an discrete amount of electrically conductive material impregnated throughout said container body sufficient to allow said container body to maintain neutral charge when connected to ground.
A droplet collector, comprising:
- a. a liquid stream;
- b. a droplet formation element responsive to said liquid stream;
- c. a plurality of droplets formed by said droplet formation element;
- d. a droplet collection element into which at least some of said droplets are collected;
- and
- e. a charge dissipation element electrically coupled to said droplet collection element.
A flow cytometer, comprising:
- a. a fluid stream;
- b. a plurality of particles having particle characteristics entrained in said fluid stream;
- c. a nozzle having an aperture through which said fluid stream exits;
- d. an oscillator having an oscillation frequency that generates droplets at said aperture of said nozzle as said fluid stream exits, wherein at least a portion of said droplets entrain one of said plurality of particles;
- e. a particle characteristic analyzer;
- f. a droplet charger operably responsive to said droplets, wherein said droplet charger imparts an electrical charge to each of said droplets based upon analysis of said particle characteristics;
- g. a droplet deflector that deflects said droplets;
- h. an electrically conductive droplet collector into which said deflected droplets are collected.
Methods substantially as described hereinbefore and with reference to any of the accompanying examples.
Apparatuses substantially as described hereinbefore and with reference to any of the accompanying examples.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.