Composition for manipulating optical and electrical properties of particles to achieve target values for such properties and methods for using the composition

A composition for altering the optical and electrical properties of a red blood cell, the composition comprising:

• at least one red blood cell having hemoglobin therein and having optical and electrical properties at respective natural values;
• a preincubation media comprising a hypotonic buffered solution and a polyhydroxy alcohol, the polyhydroxy alcohol being present in the media at a concentration from about 1% to about 20% by volume for leaking a quantity of the hemoglobin from the red blood cell;
• and
• a stabilizing agent at a concentration from about 0.00625% to about 4% by volume for fixing the red blood cell having had the quantity of its hemoglobin released;
• wherein the preincubation media and stabilizing agent are present in the composition at selected respective concentrations to alter the respective natural values of the optical and electrical properties of the cell to achieve selected target values of the optical and electrical properties.

A method of manipulating the optical and electrical properties of a biological particle to achieve selected target values for the respective properties, the method comprising:

• providing a base biological particle having both optical and electrical properties at respective natural values;
• contacting the particle with a preincubation media, the media including a hypotonic buffered solution and a polyhydroxy alcohol at selected respective concentrations to manipulate the optical and electrical properties of the particle;
• allowing the particle to remain in contact with the preincubation media for an incubation time;
• contacting the particle with a primary fixative solution after the step of contacting the particle with the preincubation media, the fixative solution including a stabilizing agent at a selected primary concentration to manipulate the optical and electrical properties of the particle;
• allowing the particle to remain in contact with the primary fixative solution for a first period of time;
• and
• removing the particle from the primary fixative solution;
• wherein the incubation time and the first period of time are selected to manipulate the respective natural values of the optical and electrical properties of the particle to achieve the selected target values for the optical and electrical properties.

A method of manipulating the optical and electrical properties of an animal cell to achieve selected target values for the respective properties, the method comprising:

• providing an animal red blood cell having optical and electrical properties at respective natural values;
• contacting the cell with a preincubation media, the media including a hypotonic buffered solution and propylene glycol, the propylene glycol being present in the media at a selected concentration from about 1% to about 20% by volume;
• allowing the cell to remain in the preincubation media for an incubation time from about 5 minutes to about 45 minutes;
• contacting the cell with a primary fixative solution after the step of contacting the cell with the preincubation media, the primary fixative solution including glutaraldehyde at a selected primary concentration from about 0.00625% to about 4% by volume;
• allowing the cell to remain in the primary fixative solution for a first period of time from about 15 minutes to 24 hours;
• and
• removing the cell from the primary fixative solution;
• wherein the incubation time and the first period of time are selected to manipulate the optical and electrical properties of the cell from the natural values of the respective properties to the target values for the respective properties.

A composition for altering the optical and electrical properties of a red blood cell to create an analog for a human leukocyte subpopulation for use as a control product for a differentiating particle analyzer instrument, the composition comprising:

• at least one red blood cell having hemoglobin therein and having optical and electrical properties at respective natural values;
• a hypotonic buffered solution;
• a polyhydroxy alcohol for leaking a quantity of the hemoglobin from the red blood cell;
• and
• a stabilizing agent for fixing the red blood cell having had the quantity of its hemoglobin released;
• wherein the hypotonic buffered solution, the polyhydroxy alcohol and the stabilizing agent are present in the composition at selected respective concentrations to manipulate the natural values of the optical and electrical properties of the cell to approximate values of optical and electrical properties of the human leukocyte subpopulation, as measured by the particle analyzer instrument.

A method of manipulating the optical and electrical properties of a biological particle to create an analog for a human leukocyte subpopulation for use as a control product on a differentiating particle analyzer instrument, the method comprising:

• providing a base biological particle having optical and electrical properties at respective natural values;
• contacting the particle with a preincubation media, the media including a hypotonic buffered solution and a polyhydroxy alcohol at selected respective concentrations to manipulate the optical and electrical properties of the particle;
• allowing the particle to remain in contact with the preincubation media for an incubation time;
• contacting the particle with a primary fixative solution after the step of contacting the particle with a preincubation media, the primary fixative solution including a stabilizing agent at a selected primary concentration to manipulate the optical and electrical properties of the particle;
• allowing the particle to remain in contact with the fixative solution for a first period of time;
• and
• removing the particle from the fixative solution;
• wherein the incubation time and the first period of time are selected to manipulate the natural values of the optical and electrical properties of the particle to approximate values of optical and electrical properties of the human leukocyte subpopulation, as measured by the particle analyzer instrument.

An analog for a human leukocyte subpopulation for use as a control product on a differentiating particle analyzer instrument, the analog created by the process comprising:

• providing a base biological particle having both optical and electrical properties at respective natural values;
• contacting the particle with a preincubation media, the media including a hypotonic buffered solution and a polyhydroxy alcohol at selected respective concentrations to manipulate the optical and electrical properties of the particle;
• allowing the particle to remain in contact with the preincubation media for an incubation time;
• contacting the particle with a primary fixative solution after the step of contacting the particle with the preincubation media, the fixative solution including a stabilizing agent at a selected primary concentration to manipulate the optical and electrical properties of the particle;
• allowing the particle to remain in contact with the primary fixative solution for a first period of time;
• and
• removing the particle from the primary fixative solution;
• wherein the incubation time and the first period of time are selected to manipulate the respective natural values of the optical and electrical properties of the particle to achieve the selected target values for the optical and electrical properties.