An apparatus and method for isolating bacterial particles in a sample using a container with material in temporary fluid blocking position to lower orifice in the container, a separation medium having an electrical conductivity lower than and physical density greater than that of the sample above the material that supports a sample concentrate after passing through the separation medium when exposed to centrifugal force, a heating element for liquefying the material to permit flow into a chamber past an electrode array that attracts and holds subject particles. The system allows rapid detection and isolation of particles from samples from animal, human, environmental sites, a bio-industrial reactor or a food or beverage production facility requiring relatively small volumes, short incubation times resulting in structurally intact particles for further analysis. Testing may be completed in a single unit that requires decreased technician manipulation, fewer steps and a decrease in cross-contamination.

Systems and methods are provided for the analysis of single particles with inductively coupled plasma-time of flight mass spectrometry. An ion compression device is operated in combination with an image current detector to improve a duty cycle of particle analysis. The image current detection device is used to determine a start time and an end time of a separate ion cloud which is derived from a single particle. The ion compression device stores and compresses each ion cloud based on instructions from the image current detector. The duty cycle of the particle analysis can be improved up to nearly 100%. The ion compression device is additionally operated with an ion filtration device to achieve a lower detection limit and a higher signal-to-noise ratio.

Disclosed is a disease differentiation support method for supporting disease differentiation, the disease differentiation support method including: obtaining a first parameter obtained by analyzing an image including a cell contained in a sample collected from a subject; obtaining a second parameter regarding a number of cells contained in the sample; and generating, by using a computer algorithm, differentiation support information for supporting disease differentiation, on the basis of the first parameter and the second parameter.

Disclosed is a method for assisting prediction of onset of cerebral infarction, based on the number of red blood cells contained in a blood sample collected from a subject, comprising the steps of: calculating an exponent value for the prediction from a first measured value indicating red blood cell count measured by electrical resistance measurement method and a second measured value indicating red blood cell count measured by optical measurement method,
comparing the exponent value with a reference range, and
suggesting that the subject develops cerebral infarction when the exponent value is outside the reference range.

A method for measuring the concentration of a micro/nano particle, including: allowing the to-be-measured micro/nano particle to bind with one or more kinds of marker to form a new particle, the new particle having a change in at least one of particle size, charge state, and particle morphology compared with the to-be-measured micro/nano particle or the marker; measuring the particle size, charge state, or particle morphology of the new particle and the to-be-measured micro/nano particle or the marker, and counting the new particle and the to-be-measured micro/nano particle or the marker respectively to obtain their respective count results, and, on the basis of the count results, calculating the concentration of the to-be-measured micro/nano particle bound with the marker. The method of the present application has the advantages of high measurement accuracy, low measurement limit, and stability of chemical reagents.

In one example in accordance with the present disclosure, a cell preparation system is described. The cell preparation system includes a fluidic channel to transport cells in single file past multiple detection devices. The cell preparation system also includes a series of detection devices. Each detection device includes 1) a constriction to deform a cell found therein and 2) a sensor to measure a state within the constriction. The cell preparation system also includes a controller. The controller analyzes outputs from multiple sensors to 1) verify a single file transport of cells through the system and 2) identify a cell that passes through the fluidic channel.

An exemplary mobile impedance-based flow cytometer is developed for the diagnosis of sickle cell disease. The mobile cytometer may be controlled by a computer (e.g., smartphone) application. Calibration of the portable device may be performed using a component of known impedance value. With the developed portable flow cytometer, analysis may be performed on two sickle cell samples and a healthy cell sample. The acquired results may subsequently be analyzed to extract single-cell level impedance information as well as statistics of different cell conditions. Significant differences in cell impedance signals may be observed between sickle cells and normal cells, as well as between sickle cells under hypoxia and normoxia conditions.

Described herein are systems and methods for imaging mass spectrometry, including imaging mass cytometry. Aspects of the subject application include apparatus and methods for imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) that improve speed of sample acquisition, signal sensitivity, and/or signal stability. Systems and methods described herein may minimize the transfer time and/or may minimize the spread of plumes of sample material ablated from a sample to be transferred to the components of the imaging mass spectrometer or mass cytometer that ionize and analyze the sample material.

Systems and methods are provided for reliably detecting aerosolized virus particles using electrochemical characteristics of the virus, and its interaction with π-conjugated conducting solid-state substrates.

The magnetic chip detector system can have a first conductor member and a second conductor member both exposed to a liquid flow path and separated from one another by gap, each one of the conductor members having a magnetic field oriented into the liquid flow path, at least a first one of the magnetic fields being actively modifiable; an electrical energy source configured to induce a current circulation across the gap; and a meter configured to measure a response of the gap to the induced current circulation.