| abstract |
Apparatus and methods for analyzing particles, including apparatus and methods for a sperm sorting process including: collecting sperm from an animal (30); selecting staining conditions (47A); staining the sperm with DNA selective fluorescent dye (48); sorting the sperm cells according to sex chromosome content (55); and cryopreserving a population of sorted sperm (61) until used for artificial insemination. One embodiment includes apparatus (1001) and methods for using a plurality of flow cytometry units (9) sharing an integrated platform to sort sperm cells. In one embodiment, flow cytometric sorting includes use of the following apparatus and methods: an orienting nozzle having a baffle (101); an epi-illumination optics system (109); slit scanning of localized DNA regions within cell nuclei (225); digital signal processing, including synchronous sampling of analog output signals (701), pulse waveform (497) feature extraction of an approximation of a first order derivative of a pulse waveform (497) at a point of the pulse, any of various sort strategies; and an automated sort calibration system (4201). In one embodiment, digital signal processing includes sampling analog output signals (701) at times relative to emission of pulses from an illumination laser. Other embodiments are substantially different from the foregoing, including embodiments directed to individual steps or systems that can be used for any of various applications involving particle analysis. |