Particle analyzer

Claim 2

A particle analyzer comprising: a flow cell for enclosing a sample liquid containing particles in a sheathed flow to form a flat flow of the sample liquid; exciting light source means for emitting light for exciting fluorescence to irradiate the particle in the flat flow; an illumination light source for emitting illumination light to irradiate the particle in the flat flow; a sensor for receiving the illumination light passing through the particle to capture an image of the particle; monitoring means for determining whether two or more particles are passing through the flat flow imaged onto said sensor; and capturing means for capturing a fluorescent image of the particle when the particle reaches a predetermined position of the flat flow.

Claim 3

A particle analyzer according to claim 1 further comprising: a shutter which allows the capturing means to receive the fluorescence from the particle for a predetermined period of time; light detection means for detecting light coming from the particle irradiated with the exciting light; control means for controlling an operational timing of the shutter based on at least one of a detection signal from the light detection means and an image signal of said sensor; and analyzing means for analyzing the particle based on at least one of an image signal from each of the capturing means and said sensor and the detection signal from the light detection means.

Claim 4

A particle analyzer according to claim 2 wherein the light coming from the particle is at least one of forward scatter light, side scatter light, forward fluorescence and side fluorescence.

Claim 5

A particle analyzer according to claim 1 further comprising: a shutter which allows the capturing means to receive the fluorescence from the particle for a predetermined period of time; control means for controlling an operation timing of the shutter based on an image signal from the sensor; and analyzing means for analyzing the particle based on at least one of image signals from the capturing means and the sensor.

Claim 6

A particle analyzer according to claim 2 wherein the capturing means captures a fluorescent image obtained from one surface of the flat flow and light detection means detects the light obtained from the other surface of the flat flow.

Claim 7

A particle analyzer according to claim 1, wherein said sensor is a one dimensional image sensor capturing an image of the particle by scanning across the flat flow.

Claim 8

A particle analyzer according to claim 6, wherein said analyzing means further comprises means for calculating physical characteristics of the particle, said analyzing means ignoring calculated physical characteristics when two or more particles are indicated by said monitoring means.

Claim 9

A particle analyzer according to claim 4, wherein said analyzing means comprises means for calculating physical characteristics of the particle.

Claim 10

A particle analyzer according to claim 1, wherein said monitoring means monitors an area upstream of said predetermined position.

Claim 13

A method according to claim 10, further comprising: detecting light coming from the particle irradiated with the exciting light; controlling, in accordance with the detecting step, an operational timing of a shutter for allowing the capturing step to receive fluorescence from the particle for a predetermined period of time; and analyzing the particle based on at least one of an image signal from the capturing step and a detection signal from the detecting step.

Claim 14

A method according to claim 10, further comprising: analyzing the particles based on at least one of image signals from the capturing step and the imaging step.

Claim 15

A method according to claim 10, wherein said imaging step includes imaging the illuminating light onto a one dimensional image sensor.

Claim 16

A method according to claim 12, further comprising ignoring said analyzing step based on an image signal from the capturing step when the determining step determines two or more particles are present.

Claim 17

A method according to claim 12, further comprising calculating physical characteristics of a particle in the flat flow imaged onto said one dimensional image sensor.

Claim 18

A particle analyzer comprising: a flow cell for enclosing a sample liquid containing particles in a sheathed flow to form a flat flow of the sample liquid; an exciting light source for emitting light for exciting fluorescence to irradiate the particle in the flat flow; capturing means for capturing a fluorescent image of the particle when the particle reaches a predetermined position of the flat flow; a shutter which allows the capturing means to receive the fluorescence from the particle for a predetermined period of time; an illumination light source for emitting illumination light to irradiate the particle in the flat flow; a sensor receiving the illumination light passing through the particle to capture an image of the particle; control means for controlling an operation timing of the shutter based on an image signal from said sensor; and analyzing means for analyzing the particle based on at least one of image signals from the capturing means and said sensor, said analyzing means including means for calculating physical characteristics of the particle.

Claim 19

A particle analyzer comprising: a flow cell for enclosing a sample liquid containing particles in a sheathed flow to form a flat flow of the sample liquid; an exciting light source for emitting light for exciting fluorescence to irradiate the particle in the flat flow; capturing means for capturing a fluorescent image of the particle when the particle reaches a predetermined position of the flat flow; a shutter which allows the capturing means to receive the fluorescence from the particle for a predetermined period of time; an illumination light source for emitting illumination light to irradiate the particle in the flat flow; a sensor receiving the illumination light passing through the particle to capture an image of the particle; control means for controlling an operation timing of the shutter based on an image signal from said sensor; and analyzing means for analyzing the particle based on at least one of image signals from the capturing means and said sensor, said analyzing means including means for calculating physical characteristics of the particle.

Claim 22

A method according to claim 10, wherein said imaging step includes imaging an area upstream of said predetermined position.

Claim 23

A particle analyzer according to claim 16, wherein said physical characteristics include at least one of absorbency and area.