A sensor arrangement characterizes particles. The arrangement has an emitter with a laser source that generates a laser beam; a mode converter that generates a field distribution of the laser beam, which at each position has a different combination of a local intensity and a local polarization direction of the laser beam; and focusing optics that focus the field distribution of the laser beam onto at least one measurement region, through which the particles pass, in a focal plane. A receiver is also provided with analyzer optics configured to determine polarization-dependent intensity signals of the field distribution of the laser beam in the at least one measurement region; and an evaluator configured to characterize the particles, including the particle position, the particle velocity, the particle acceleration, or the particle size, using the polarization-dependent intensity signals.

Aspects of the present disclosure include methods for flow cytometrically sorting a sample with particles, such as cells, based on order of identification. Methods according to certain embodiments include introducing the sample into a flow cytometer; flowing the introduced sample in a flow stream; irradiating the sample in the flow stream with a light source; detecting light from cells in the sample flowing in the flow stream; identifying phenotypes of cells in the sample flowing in the flow stream based on one or more data signals generated from the detected light; and dynamically sorting into partitions cells of the sample that have a phenotype of a collection of predetermined phenotypes based on order of identification. Systems for practicing the subject methods are also provided. Non-transitory computer readable storage mediums are also described.

In one aspect, a method of sorting cells in a flow cytometry system is disclosed, which includes illuminating a cell with radiation having at least two optical frequencies shifted from one another by a radiofrequency to elicit fluorescent radiation from the cell, detecting the fluorescent radiation to generate temporal fluorescence data, and processing the temporal fluorescence data to arrive at a sorting decision regarding the cell without generating an image (i.e., a pixel-by-pixel image) of the cell based on the fluorescence data. In some cases, the sorting decision can be made with a latency less than about 100 microseconds. In some embodiments, the above method of sorting cells can have a sub-cellular resolution. In some embodiments, a single radiofrequency shift is employed to separate the optical frequencies while in other such embodiments a plurality of different radiofrequency shifts are employed.

A lens-free microscope system for automatically analyzing yeast cell viability in a stained sample includes a portable, lens-free microscopy device that includes a housing containing a light source coupled to an optical fiber, the optical fiber spaced away several centimeters from an image sensor disposed at one end of the housing, wherein the stained sample is disposed on the image sensor or a sample holder adjacent to the image sensor. Hologram images are transferred to a computing device having image processing software contained therein, the image processing software identifying yeast cell candidates of interest from back-propagated images of the stained sample, whereby a plurality of spatial features are extracted from the yeast cell candidates of interest and subject to a trained machine learning model to classify the yeast cell candidates of interest as live or dead.

An optical analysis device includes a light source, a beam shaping unit, a relative movement unit, a photodetector, and a position detector. The light source unit generates a light beam. The beam shaping unit forms a flat beam portion. The relative movement unit is configured to cause the flat beam portion and a test sample including marker particles to relatively move in a minor axis direction of the flat beam portion. The photodetector is configured to detect a light intensity and a light emitting position in a plane orthogonal to the minor axis direction. The position detector is capable of detecting spatial positions of the marker particles on the basis of information on a relative movement amount of the flat beam portion, information on the light intensity and the light emitting position, and a change of the light intensity generated according to a relative movement of the flat beam portion.

Methods, systems, and devices are disclosed for imaging particles and/or cells using flow cytometry. In one aspect, a method includes transmitting a light beam at a fluidic channel carrying a fluid sample containing particles; optically encoding scattered or fluorescently-emitted light at a spatial optical filter, the spatial optical filter including a surface having a plurality of apertures arranged in a pattern along a transverse direction opposite to particle flow and a longitudinal direction parallel to particle flow, such that different portions of a particle flowing over the pattern of the apertures pass different apertures at different times and scatter the light beam or emit fluorescent light at locations associated with the apertures; and producing image data associated with the particle flowing through the fluidic channel based on the encoded optical signal, in which the produced image data includes information of a physical characteristic of the particle.

The present disclosure provides, among other things, methods and devices for single cells/particle selection and isolation from a sample in a light-curable biomatrix gel. The individual cells or particles are observed by microscopy and manipulated and isolated by accurately controlling the light transmission from a liquid crystal display (LCD) oriented under the sample to provide a detailed image of the sample. In some embodiments, selected cells or particles are then immobilized by curing the biomatrix gel with blue/violet light transmitted from a LED pixel array. In other embodiments, the selected cells or particles of interest are allowed to remain mobile. In either embodiment, the individual cells or particles of interest are segregated from and isolated from the remainder of the sample.

A system for filtering light using a spectrometer enhanced with spectral filters using an array of independent photodetectors to measure the fluorescent or scattered light signal. A system comprising a light source, an illuminated sample, a light spectrum device, a collimator lens, a plurality of spectral filters each having a varying and selected light transmission spectrum and a plurality of photodetectors wherein each photodetector is oriented to a spectral filter. A scanning cytometer for measuring fluorescence and light scattering from an illuminated portion of the sample comprising a first light source, a scanner scanning in two axes, a fluorescence detector, an objective lens, an optically translucent medium through which a sample may be illuminated and a confocal apparatus positioned distally from the light source and sample and through which light signals from the sample are transmitted to a fluorescence detector.

In one aspect, the present teachings provide a system for performing cytometry that can be operated in three operational modes. In one operational mode, a fluorescence image of a sample is obtained by exciting one or more fluorophore(s) present in the sample by an excitation beam formed as a superposition of a top-hat-shaped beam with a plurality of beams that are radiofrequency shifted relative to one another. In another operational mode, a sample can be illuminated successively over a time interval by a laser beam at a plurality of excitation frequencies in a scanning fashion. The fluorescence emission from the sample can be detected and analyzed, e.g., to generate a fluorescence image of the sample. In yet another operational mode, the system can be operated to illuminate a plurality of locations of a sample concurrently by a single excitation frequency, which can be generated, e.g., by shifting the central frequency of a laser beam by a radiofrequency. For example, a horizontal extent of the sample can be illuminated by a laser beam at a single excitation frequency. The detected fluorescence radiation can be used to analyze the fluorescence content of the sample, e.g., a cell/particle.

A mask structure optimization device includes a classification target image size acquisition unit that is configured to acquire a size of a classification target image which is an image including a classification target, a mask size setting unit that is configured to set a size of a mask applied to the classification target image, a brightness detection unit that is configured to detect a brightness of each pixel within the classification target image at a position on an opposite side of the mask from the classification target image, a sum total brightness calculation unit that is configured to calculate the sum total brightness of the each pixel within the classification target image detected by the brightness detection unit, an initial value setting unit that is configured to set an initial value for a mask pattern of the mask, and a movement unit that is configured to relatively move the mask with respect to the classification target image. The sum total brightness calculation unit is configured to calculate the sum total brightness of the each pixel within the classification target image every time the movement unit relatively moves the mask by a predetermined movement amount. The mask structure optimization device further includes a mask pattern optimization unit that is configured to optimize the mask pattern of the mask on the basis of the sum total brightness.