The National Flow Cytometry Resource, Biosciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87131-0001, USA.
Cytometry A. 2009 Dec;75(12):979-89. doi: 10.1002/cyto.a.20814.
Fully digital data acquisition systems for use in flow cytometry provide excellent flexibility and precision. Here, we demonstrate the development of a low cost, small, and low power digital flow cytometry data acquisition system using a single microcontroller chip with an integrated analog to digital converter (ADC). Our demonstration system uses a commercially available evaluation board making the system simple to integrate into a flow cytometer. We have evaluated this system using calibration microspheres analyzed on commercial, slow-flow, and CCD-based flow cytometers. In our evaluations, our demonstration data system clearly resolves all eight peaks of a Rainbow microsphere set on both a slow-flow flow cytometer and a retrofitted BD FACScalibur, which indicates it has the sensitivity and resolution required for most flow cytometry applications. It is also capable of millisecond time resolution, full waveform collection, and selective triggering of data collection from a CCD camera. The capability of our demonstration system suggests that the use of microcontrollers for flow cytometry digital data-acquisition will be increasingly valuable for extending the life of older cytometers and provides a compelling data-system design approach for low-cost, portable flow cytometers.
用于流式细胞术的全数字数据采集系统提供了出色的灵活性和精度。在这里，我们展示了一种低成本、小尺寸、低功耗的数字流式细胞术数据采集系统的开发，该系统使用带有集成模拟到数字转换器（ADC）的单个微控制器芯片。我们的演示系统使用市售的评估板，使系统易于集成到流式细胞仪中。我们使用商业上可用的评估板上分析的校准微球对该系统进行了评估，这些微球在商用、低速和基于 CCD 的流式细胞仪上进行了分析。在我们的评估中，我们的演示数据系统清楚地分辨出 Rainbow 微球集的所有八个峰，无论是在低速流式细胞仪上还是在改装的 BD FACScalibur 上，这表明它具有大多数流式细胞术应用所需的灵敏度和分辨率。它还能够实现毫秒级时间分辨率、全波形采集以及从 CCD 相机选择性触发数据采集。我们的演示系统的功能表明，微控制器在流式细胞术数字数据采集中的应用将越来越有价值，可以延长旧流式细胞仪的使用寿命，并为低成本、便携式流式细胞仪提供引人注目的数据系统设计方法。
