Method and apparatus for the identification and handling of particles

摘要

Disclosed herein are methods and equipment for the optimized selection and isolation, within a respective population, of elements of interest and/or utility for a series of subsequent operations, which can include the phases of: a) identifying, for each particle, at least one of a plurality of characteristic parameters; b) selecting the particles of interest, comparing for each of these the at least one parameter with a respective reference parameter; c) storing, for each of the particles, the at least one parameter identified; d) processing the value of a function of the stored parameter, associating the function with a criterion for selection of the particles of interest chosen from a group of possible selection criteria; e) establishing for each particle a threshold criterion to be used as reference parameter, on a time by time basis according to the result of the processing.

主权项

1. A method for the identification and handling of particles of interest within a population of particles, the method comprising:
putting the population of particles containing the particles of interest in a microfluidic device; scanning the whole microfluidic device and identifying, for each particle of said population of particles in said microfluidic device, at least one parameter from a set of characteristic parameters of said particles of interest; selecting from said population of particles in said microfluidic device the particles of interest by comparing for each particle of said population of particles in said microfluidic device said at least one parameter with a respective reference parameter; wherein said reference parameter is established on a case by case basis by the steps of: storing on a memory device the at least one parameter identified for each particle of said population of particles when scanning the whole microfluidic device; determining on a computer device a value of at least one merit function of said at least one stored parameter; processing on a computer device the value of said at least one merit function of said at least one stored parameter for each particle of said population of particles; displaying the distribution of the value of said merit function within the population of particles on a graphic interface to a user; combining said merit function with a selection criterion of said particles of interest, said selection criterion being chosen by the user from a group of possible selection criteria on the basis of the displayed distribution of the value of said merit function within the population of particles; and establishing for each particle of said population of particles a threshold criterion to be used as said reference parameter, said threshold criterion being established by the user on a case by case basis based on the combination of the merit function with said chosen selection criterion; and separating said particles of interest from the population of particles based on the respective reference parameter, handling only the selected particles of interest.