JPS6151542A - Optical system for particle analysis - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize high-precision photometry by providing a light shield body at a position conjugate to the edge of a distribution part about a condenser lens, and removing its scattered light and preventing the mixture of unnecessary information. CONSTITUTION:Light shield bodies 7a-7d are installed at positions conjugate to edges 2a-2d of the distribution part 2 with respect to the condenser lens 4. Then, irradiation light converged on an object body S through the lens 2 is scattered by the object body S and then converged on a photoelectric detector 6 through a condenser lens 4, but scattered light from the edges 2a-2d is cut off by the light shield bodies 7a-7d, and further scattered light from the periphery of the distribution part 2 is removed by an aperture 5, so that the photoelectric detector 6 photodetects only scattered light from the object body S. Consequently, high-precision photometry is performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to an optical system for particle analysis that is used in flow cytometers and the like and eliminates the effects of edges in the flow cell flow section.

[Prior art] A flow cytometer is a device that elucidates the properties and structure of cells by irradiating, for example, laser light onto a cell suspension solution flowing at high speed and detecting photoelectric signals from the scattered light. It is used in fields such as medicine, hematology, oncology, and genetics.

In the conventional optical system for particle analysis used in this flow cytometer, as shown in FIG. Irradiation light from a laser light source (not shown) is focused on the passing specimen S such as blood cells through a lens 3, and forward scattered light in the straight direction of the irradiation light is transmitted through a lens 4 to a photoelectric detector 6 via a 7-barrier 5. By concentrating light on the sample S, information mainly on the size of the specimen S can be obtained. An aperture 5 having an opening is configured to pass through a lens 4 in order to prevent unnecessary light arriving from the vicinity of the flow section 2 from affecting measurement accuracy when determining the scattered light of the specimen S. It is installed at a position that is almost conjugate to the specimen S. Although not shown in the diagram, in addition to measuring the forward If and scattered light as described above, side scattered light may be determined as necessary to detect information on the back of the specimen S, or for specimens with fluorescent labels. In some cases, it is detected from the side using a helia filter and cytochemical analysis is performed.

By the way, the irradiation light consisting of a laser beam is focused at the size of the distribution section 2, which is larger than the size of the peripheral area of the distribution section 2, as shown in Fig. 2, but this is because the specimen S consists of This is to prevent measurement accuracy from being significantly affected even if the light is moved in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the irradiation light.

However, if the irradiation light is focused on a part wider than the size of the circulation part 2 in this way, each of the edges 2a and 2b of the retreat part 2.

2c and 2d, which cannot be removed even by the aperture 5, and each edge 2a to 2d
The influence of scattered light on measurement accuracy cannot be ignored.

[Object of the Invention] The object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the conventional optical system for particle analysis, and to improve the +111 constant accuracy by providing a light shielding body that blocks the scattered light from each edge of the flow section. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical system for particle analysis that can eliminate the influence.

[Summary of the invention] The gist of the present invention is to achieve the above objects.

a flow cell having a flow section for flowing a sample; a condenser lens and a photoelectric detector for measuring light emitted from a light source that is scattered in a straight direction by the sample; This optical system for particle analysis is characterized in that it includes a light shielding member installed at a position conjugate with the edge of the condensing lens in order to remove the light generated by the condenser lens.

[Embodiments of the Invention] The present invention will be described in detail based on the illustrated embodiments based on the third factor. Note that the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1 indicate the same members and parts.

Irradiation light is input from one side of a flow cell 1 having a flow section 2 through which a sample S flows, and a condenser lens 4, an aperture 5, and a photoelectric detector 6 are installed at positions where forward scattered light in the straight direction of the irradiation light is measured. This is the same as the conventional example shown in FIG.

Between the condensing lens 4 and the photoelectric detector 6, there is a light shielding body 7a in the form of a four-band strip, for example, several tens of meters wide.

7b, 7c, and 7d are arranged. These light shielding bodies 7a are arranged parallel to the direction of each of the edges 2a to 2d, that is, perpendicular to the plane of the paper, at positions that are conjugate with edges 2a, 7b with 2b, 7C with 2c, and 7d with 2d of the flow section 2, respectively. It is installed in the same direction.

The irradiation light focused on the specimen S by the lens 3 is
The scattered light is focused by the lens 4 onto the photoelectric converter 6. Here, each edge 2a~ of the distribution section 2
Each scattered light from 2d is.

The light is removed by the light shields 7a to 7b, respectively, and the aperture 5 removes light from the periphery of the flow section 2,
Only the lik scattered light caused by the sample S is received by the photoelectric detector 6 and measured.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the optical system for particle analysis according to the present invention, when using a flow cell having a rectangular flow section, collects nti scattered light from each of these edges through a condensing lens. It is removed by installing a light shield at a position conjugate to
This enables highly accurate photometry without unnecessary information being mixed in.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a conventional device, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the relationship between irradiation light and a flow section, and FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of main parts showing an embodiment of an optical system for particle analysis according to the present invention. . Symbol l is a flow cell, 2 is a flow section, 2a to 2d are edges, 3.4 is a lens, 5 is an aperture, 6 is a photoelectric detector,
7a to 7d are light shields, and S is a specimen.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A flow cell having a flow section for flowing a sample, a condensing lens and a photoelectric detector for photometrically measuring light emitted from a light source that is scattered in a straight direction by the sample; An optical system for particle analysis, comprising: a light shielding member installed at a position conjugate with the edge of the condenser lens in order to remove light scattered at the edge of the flow section. 2. The optical system for particle analysis according to claim 1, wherein the light shield has a band-like shape.