SYSTEM FOR RAPID ANALYSIS OF SINGLE CELLS

THERE EXISTS A NEED TO DEVELOP NEW INSTRUMENTATION THAT CAN PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT SIZE, SHAPE, AND IDENTITIES OF INDIVIDUAL CELLS IN A FLOW SYSTEM THROUGH A RAPID, IN-SITU, OPTICAL ANALYSIS. THE OBJEC- TIVES OF THIS EFFORT ARE TO IDENTIFY THE SYSTEM RE- QUIREMENTS, PROJECT THE TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY OF THE DEVELOPED CONCEPTS, AND DESIGN A PROTOTYPE SYSTEM, INCLUDING A PARTICLE INJECTING SYSTEM, AN OPTICAL SYS- TEM, AND A HIGH-SPEED DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM. THIS WILL MEASURE THE DIFFERENTIAL SCATTERING PATTERNS OF INDIVIDUAL CELLS AT TWO LASER WAVELENGTHS IN AT LEAST THREE DIFFERENT SCATTERING PLANES. THE OPTICAL SYSTEM INCLUDES ELLIPSOIDAL REFLECTORS AND CIRCULAR ARRAY DETECTORS TO SCAN 2 SCATTERING ANGLES IN A FINE ANGULAR RESOLUTION. PHASE I RESULTS ARE TO PROVIDE DE- TAILS OF SYSTEM DESIGN, HARDWARE IDENTIFICATION, AND THEORETICAL ANALYSIS THAT WILL DIRECT THE IMPLEMENTA- TION OF PHASE II-THE ACTUAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE SYSTEM.