# US 9,752,964 B1 · Flow cytometry apparatus pulling sample stream through observation chamber

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- Number: US 9,752,964 B1
- Document ID: US9752964B1
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B1
- Application number: 13/717,279
- Filed: 2012-12-17
- Granted: 2017-09-05
- Earliest claimed: 2009-06-22
- Assignees: Stc.Unm
- Applicants: Stc.Unm
- Inventors: Bruce S. Edwards; Larry A. Sklar; Ronald D. Salesky
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9752964B1

## CPC

- G01N 1/14: Suction devices, e.g. pumps; Ejector devices
- G01N 35/109: {with two horizontal degrees of freedom}
- G01N 35/08: using a stream of discrete samples flowing along a tube system, e.g. flow injection analysis
- G01N 15/1459: {the analysis being performed on a sample stream}
- Y10T 436/118339: with formation of a segmented stream
- G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q)
- Y10T: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION

## Abstract

A flow cytometry apparatus includes a flow cytometer having a suction or negative-pressure intake probe, a support for a microplate having a plurality of sample wells, and motive elements operatively connected to at least one of the probe and the support for moving the intake probe and the support relative to one another so that the intake probe is sequentially aligned with different sample wells of the microplate. The apparatus has no fluid pumping elements between the support and the flow cytometer so that a bubble-separated sample stream is forced to the flow cytometer solely by virtue of a negative pressure communicated via the intake probe.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for operating a flow cytometry apparatus, comprising:
supporting a microplate in juxtaposition to a suction intake probe of a flow cytometer, said microplate having a plurality of sample wells;
automatically and incrementally moving at least one of said microplate and said intake probe relative to the other so that said intake probe is sequentially aligned with different sample wells of the microplate;
extracting a liquid sample from each of the different sample wells of the microplate via said intake probe;
introducing a separation fluid, different from the liquid of the extracted samples, between successive extracted samples to form a fluid-separated sample stream comprising a sequence of the extracted samples alternating in seriatim with the separation fluid;
feeding said fluid-separated sample stream to said flow cytometer via said intake probe; and
operating said flow cytometer and thereby focusing the fluid-separated sample stream and selectively analyzing particles in each sample as said fluid-separated sample stream passes through said flow cytometer,
the extracting of the samples from the different sample wells and the moving of the samples in said fluid-separated sample stream to said flow cytometer occurring solely under a negative pressure force or vacuum exerted on said samples via said flow cytometer and said intake probe, no pump being disposed between said intake probe and said flow cytometer.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method defined in claim 1 wherein the moving of said microplate relative to said intake probe including operating a plurality of stepper motors operatively connected to respective slides of a support assembly holding said microplate.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method defined in claim 2 wherein the moving of said microplate includes moving said slides along respective axes of a 3-axis coordinate system.

### Claim 4

A method for operating a flow cytometry apparatus, comprising:
supporting a microplate in juxtaposition to a suction intake probe of a flow cytometer, said microplate having a plurality of sample wells;
automatically and incrementally moving at least one of said microplate and said intake probe relative to the other;
sequentially aligning said intake probe with different sample wells of the microplate;
extracting a liquid sample from each of the different sample wells of the microplate via said intake probe;
introducing a separation fluid between successive extracted samples to form a fluid-separated sample stream, wherein said separation fluid is different from the liquid of the extracted samples and wherein said fluid-separated sample stream comprises an in seriatim sequence of the extracted samples interleaved or alternating with the separation fluid;
feeding said fluid-separated sample stream to said flow cytometer via a flow path extending from said intake probe to said flow cytometer; and
in said flow cytometer focusing the fluid-separated sample stream and selectively analyze particles in each sample as said fluid-separated sample stream passes through said flow cytometer,
the extracting of the samples from the different sample wells and the moving of the samples in said fluid-separated sample stream to said flow cytometer via said flow path occurring solely under a negative pressure force or vacuum exerted on said samples via said flow cytometer and said intake probe, no pump being disposed along said flow path.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method defined in claim 4 wherein the moving of said microplate relative to said intake probe including operating a plurality of stepper motors operatively connected to respective slides of a support assembly holding said microplate.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The method defined in claim 5 wherein the moving of said microplate includes moving said slides along respective axes of a 3-axis coordinate system.