Pressure regulated fluidics system for flow cytometers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12228494-B2
Application number	US-202418628729-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 7, 2024
Priority date	Aug 3, 2020
Publication date	Feb 18, 2025
Grant date	Feb 18, 2025

Abstract

A pressure regulated fluidics system of a flow cytometer includes a sheath tank holding sheath fluid; a degasser coupled to the sheath tank by a first sheath line; a manifold assembly coupled to the degasser by a second sheath line; a first valve coupled to the second sheath line; a pressure regulator coupled to the sheath tank; and a transducer coupled to and between the pressure regulator and the first valve. The transducer senses measured pressure and converts it into a voltage. The pressure regulator applies regulated pressure to the sheath fluid to maintain a total flow rate of fluids through the flow cytometer based on the voltage. The degasser pulls gas molecules out of the sheath fluid.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A pressure regulated fluidics system of a flow cytometer, the pressure regulated fluidics system comprising:
a sheath tank holding sheath fluid;
a degasser coupled to the sheath tank by a first sheath line, the degasser to pull gas molecules out of the sheath fluid;
a manifold assembly coupled to the degasser by a second sheath line;
a first valve coupled to the second sheath line;
a pressure regulator coupled to the sheath tank, the pressure regulator configured to apply a regulated pressure to the sheath tank and the sheath fluid therein to maintain a total flow rate of fluids through the flow cytometer; and
a transducer coupled to and between the pressure regulator and the first valve, wherein the transducer is configured to sense measured pressure at the first valve and convert the measured pressure into a voltage;
wherein the pressure regulator is configured to receive the voltage from the transducer to apply the regulated pressure in an attempt to match the regulated pressure at the sheath tank with the measured pressure at the manifold assembly.

2. The pressure regulated fluidics system of claim 1 , wherein:
the pressure regulator is configured to receive the voltage from the transducer and convert the voltage into the regulated pressure.

3. The pressure regulated fluidics system of claim 1 , wherein:
wherein the pressure regulator is configured to be an only regulated pressure source in the fluidics system of the flow cytometer.

4. The pressure regulated fluidics system of claim 1 , wherein:
the total flow rate is equal to a flow rate of sheath fluid in a start stream.

5. The pressure regulated fluidics system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a flow cell coupled to the manifold assembly by a third sheath line.

6. The pressure regulated fluidics system of claim 5 , further comprising:
a sample probe coupled to the flow cell.

7. The pressure regulated fluidics system of claim 6 , further comprising:
a rotary valve coupled to and between the sample probe and the flow cell by first and second sample lines.

8. The pressure regulated fluidics system of claim 7 , wherein:
the flow cell includes a sample injection tube with one end coupled to the second sample line.

9. The pressure regulated fluidics system of claim 7 , wherein:
the rotary valve is further coupled to and between the manifold assembly and the flow cell by second and third sample lines.

Assignees

• Cytek Biosciences Inc

Inventors

• Vrane David

Classifications

• G01N15/1409

  Handling samples, e.g. injecting samples · CPC title

• G01N2015/1006

  for cytology · CPC title

• G01N15/149

  specially adapted for sorting particles, e.g. by their size or optical properties · CPC title

• G01N15/1404 Primary

  Handling flow, e.g. hydrodynamic focusing · CPC title