Apparatus and Methods for Sorting Particles

A flow cytometry system for sorting a mixture of particles including particles having a characteristic A and particles having a characteristic B comprising:

• a fluid delivery system for delivering a fluid containing said particles;
• a flow cytometry apparatus for receiving said fluid, forming the fluid into a stream and using flow cytometry to classify the particles according to said characteristics;
• a sorting system for sorting the particles according to said classification and according to a sorting strategy to provide at least one population containing desired particles and;
• a control responsive to information received from the flow cytometry apparatus for controlling the sorting system to vary its sorting strategy or for controlling the fluid delivery system to vary the rate at which fluid is delivered as a function of at least one of the following:
• (1) the purity of said at least one population with respect to either characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles;
• and (2) the quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in said at least one population relative to the total quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in said stream.

A method of using a flow cytometry system to sort a mixture of particles including particles having a characteristic A and particles having a characteristic B, said method comprising:

• delivering a fluid containing said particles;
• forming the fluid into a stream and using flow cytometry to classify the particles in the stream according to said characteristics;
• sorting the particles in the stream according to said classification and according to a sorting strategy thereby to provide at least one population containing desired particles;
• and
• varying the sorting strategy or varying the rate at which fluid is delivered as a function of at least one of the following:
• (1) the purity of said at least one population with respect to either characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles;
• and (2) the quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in said at least one population relative to the total quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in said stream.

A system for sorting a mixture of particles including particles having a characteristic A and particles having a characteristic B, said system comprising:

• a fluid delivery system for delivering a fluid stream containing said particles;
• a flow cytometry apparatus for receiving said stream, forming droplets containing said particles, and sorting said droplets into different populations according to a sorting strategy, said droplets including first droplets each containing one or more particles having characteristic A, second droplets each containing one or more particles having characteristic B and third droplets each containing one or more particles having characteristic A and one or more particles having characteristic B;
• and
• a control responsive to information received from the flow cytometry apparatus for controlling the flow cytometry apparatus to vary the sorting strategy or for controlling the fluid delivery system to vary the rate at which fluid is delivered as a function of at least one of the following:
• (1) the purity of at least one droplet population with respect to either characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles;
• and (2) the quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in at least one droplet population relative to the total quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in said stream.

A method of sorting a mixture of particles including particles having a characteristic A and particles having a characteristic B, said system comprising:

• delivering a fluid stream containing said particles;
• forming droplets containing said particles;
• sorting said droplets into different populations according to a sorting strategy, said droplets including first droplets each containing one or more particles having characteristic A, second droplets each containing one or more particles having characteristic B and third droplets each containing one or more particles having characteristic A and one or more particles having characteristic B;
• and
• varying the sorting strategy or varying the rate at which fluid is delivered as a function of at least one of the following:
• (1) the purity of at least one droplet population with respect to either characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles;
• and (2) the quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in at least one droplet population relative to the total quantity of characteristic A particles or characteristic B particles in said stream.

A system for sorting X and Y sperm cells, said system comprising:

• a variable rate fluid delivery system for delivering a fluid stream containing X and Y sperm cells;
• a flow cytometry apparatus for (1) receiving said stream and forming droplets containing said particles, said droplets comprising first droplets each containing one or more X sperm cells, second droplets each containing one or more Y sperm cells, and third plurality of droplets each containing one or more X sperms cells and one or more Y sperm cells, (2) sorting said first droplets from said second and third droplets, (3) collecting said first droplets to provide at least one population of X sperm cells, and (4) identifying a quantity of X sperm cells in the at least one population;
• and
• a control responsive to instructions received from the flow cytometer apparatus for varying the rate at which the fluid is delivered to the flow cytometer apparatus as a function of the quantity of identified X sperm cells in said at least one population relative to the total number of X cells in said first, second and third droplets.

A method of sorting X and Y sperm cells, said method comprising:

• delivering a fluid stream containing X and Y sperm cells to a first location and causing said stream to break into droplets at a second location, said droplets comprising first droplets each containing one or more X sperm cells, second droplets each containing one or more Y sperm cells, and third plurality of droplets each containing one or more X sperms cells and one or more Y sperm cells;
• sorting said first droplets from said second and third droplets;
• collecting said first droplets to provide at least one population of X sperm cells;
• identifying a quantity of X sperm cells collected in said at least one population;
• and
• varying the rate at which fluid is delivered to said first location as a function of the quantity of identified X sperm cells collected in said at least one population relative to the total number of X cells in said first, second and third droplets.

A system for sorting X and Y sperm cells, said system comprising:

• a variable rate fluid delivery system for delivering a fluid stream containing X and Y sperm cells;
• a flow cytometer apparatus for (1) receiving said stream and forming droplets containing said particles, said droplets comprising first droplets each containing one or more X sperm cells, second droplets each containing one or more Y sperm cells, and third plurality of droplets each containing one or more X sperms cells and one or more Y sperm cells, (2) sorting said first and third droplets from said second droplets, (3) collecting said first and third droplets to provide at least one population of X sperm cells, and (4) identifying a quantity of Y sperm cells in the at least one population;
• and
• a control responsive to instructions received from the flow cytometer apparatus for varying the rate at which the fluid is delivered to the flow cytometer apparatus as a function of the quantity of identified Y sperm cells in said at least one population.

A method of sorting X and Y sperm cells, said method comprising:

• delivering a fluid stream containing X and Y sperm cells to a first location and causing said stream to break into droplets at a second location, said droplets comprising first droplets each containing one or more X sperm cells, second droplets each containing one or more Y sperm cells, and third plurality of droplets each containing one or more X sperms cells and one or more Y sperm cells;
• sorting said first and third droplets from said second droplets;
• collecting said first and third droplets to provide at least one population of X sperm cells;
• identifying a quantity of Y sperm cells collected in said at least one population;
• and
• varying the rate at which fluid is delivered to said first location as a function of the quantity of identified Y sperm cells collected in said at least one population.