Disclosure of Invention
The invention provides a particle analysis device and particle sorting equipment, which aim to conveniently and flexibly adjust the wavelength of detection light.
In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a particle analysis apparatus, including:
a probe light generation module for generating probe light; the detection light generation module comprises a light source unit and a light ray adjusting unit, wherein the light ray adjusting unit is used for splitting light rays emitted by the light source unit into detection light with the wavelength being adjustable and/or the wave beam being adjustable;
and the optical detection module is used for analyzing optical signals generated after the particles to be detected are irradiated by the detection light.
Optionally, the light ray adjusting unit is further configured to split the light ray emitted by the light source unit into at least two detection light beams with different wavelengths.
Optionally, the light adjustment unit comprises at least one removable light splitting element.
Optionally, the light ray adjustment unit includes a fixing element, and the light splitting element is detachably fixed to the fixing element.
Optionally, the light ray adjustment unit further comprises a reflection element and at least two switchable light splitting elements; the reflecting element is arranged opposite to the light splitting element.
Optionally, at least two of the light splitting elements and the light emitted by the light source unit have a first preset angle, and the reflection element and the light splitting element are arranged in parallel.
Optionally, the detection light generation module further includes a converging unit for converging the detection light.
Optionally, the at least two light splitting elements include a first light splitting element, an … … nth light splitting element, and an n +1 th light splitting element, where n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1;
the reflecting element with the second angle of predetermineeing has between the first beam split component, the n +1 beam split component with the second angle of predetermineeing has between the n beam split component, just the n +1 beam split component with the contained angle of first beam split component is the n times of the angle is predetermine to the second.
Optionally, the detection light generation module further includes a light shielding unit;
the light shading unit is used for absorbing the non-detection light emitted by the light ray adjusting unit.
Optionally, the light splitting element is a band-pass type light splitting element.
Optionally, the detection light generating module further includes a shaping unit, configured to shape the detection light emitted by the light splitting element.
Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:
and the imaging module is used for carrying out imaging analysis on the particles to be detected.
In a second aspect, embodiments of the present invention further provide a particle sorting apparatus, including a sorting module, a collection module, and a particle analysis device according to any of the embodiments of the present invention;
the sorting module is used for sorting the particles to be detected according to the analysis result of the particle analysis device;
the collection module is used for collecting the sorted particles to be detected.
The particle analysis device provided by the embodiment of the invention comprises the light source unit and the light ray adjusting unit by arranging the detection light generating module, the light ray adjusting unit divides the light rays emitted by the light source unit into the detection light with the wavelength being adjustable and/or the wave beam being adjustable and changeable, and the wavelength and the number of the detection light can be conveniently and flexibly adjusted without changing the light source.
Detailed Description
The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not limiting of the invention. It should be further noted that, for the convenience of description, only some of the structures related to the present invention are shown in the drawings, not all of the structures.
Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a particle analyzing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and referring to fig. 1, the particle analyzing apparatus includes:
a probelight generation module 10 for generating probe light; the detectionlight generation module 10 includes alight source unit 11 and a lightray adjustment unit 12, wherein the lightray adjustment unit 12 is configured to split light rays emitted by thelight source unit 11 into detection light rays with adjustable wavelengths and/or adjustable light beams;
theoptical detection module 20 is configured to analyze an optical signal generated after theparticle 31 to be detected is irradiated by the detection light.
Thelight source unit 11 may be a white light source, and specifically may be a white light laser generating continuous or super-continuous spectrum laser light. Theparticles 31 to be detected may be minute substances such as cells and bacteria. The detection light generated by the detectionlight generation module 10 irradiates theparticles 31 to be detected flowing at a high speed, theparticles 31 to be detected are gathered in a narrow area by theliquid flow chamber 30, the detection light irradiation area allows a plurality of particles and detection light with a plurality of wavelengths, different particles can be simultaneously irradiated by the detection light with different wavelengths, but each particle corresponds to the detection light with one wavelength at the same time, namely only one particle passes through the detection light with one wavelength each time, after theparticles 31 to be detected are irradiated by the detection light, scattered light and fluorescence are generated, and the scattered light and the fluorescence are received by theoptical detection module 20. Thelight detection module 20 determines size information, internal component and particle complexity information of theparticles 31 to be detected, information components of theparticles 31 to be detected that are fluorescently labeled, and the like according to the received scattered light and fluorescence.
The light adjustingunit 12 splits the light emitted by thelight source unit 11 into the detection light with the wavelength being changeable and/or the light beam being changeable, and thelight adjusting unit 12 can change the wavelength of the detection light according to the detection requirement, and can also increase or decrease the number of the light beams of the detection light, for example, the particles to be detected 21 in the first sample to be detected need the detection light with the first wavelength to be detected, and the particles to be detected in the second sample to be detected need the detection light with the second wavelength and the third wavelength to be detected, so when the first sample to be detected is detected, thelight adjusting unit 12 can generate the detection light with the first wavelength, and when the second sample to be detected is detected, thelight adjusting unit 12 generates the detection light with the second wavelength and the detection light with the third wavelength.
It should be noted that the wavelength of the detection light split by the lightray adjustment unit 12 may be arbitrarily selected as needed, and the light splitting is not required to be performed according to the continuously changing wavelength, and the number of the detection light beams split by the lightray adjustment unit 12 each time may be arbitrarily selected as needed, for example, the lightray adjustment unit 12 may split the detection light of one wavelength at a time, or may split the detection light of two or more wavelengths at a time.
The particle analysis device that this embodiment provided includes light source unit and light adjustment unit through setting up the detection light generation module, and the light adjustment unit divides the detection light that wavelength can be exchanged and/or light beam can increase and decrease with the light that light source unit sent, need not to change the wavelength and the light beam quantity of adjustment detection light that the light source can be convenient nimble.
Optionally, thelight adjusting unit 12 is further configured to split the light emitted by thelight source unit 11 into at least two detection lights with different wavelengths.
Specifically, by simultaneously splitting a plurality of detection lights with different wavelengths, the detection lights irradiate the detection area of theliquid flow chamber 30, and the particles 21 to be detected can be detected with different wavelengths through the detection area at a higher speed, thereby improving the particle analysis rate.
Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a light ray adjustment unit provided in an embodiment of the present invention, and optionally, referring to fig. 1 and 2, the lightray adjustment unit 12 includes at least one removablelight splitting element 121. The at least onelight splitting element 121 is used to split the light emitted from thelight source unit 11 into detection lights with different wavelengths.
Specifically, thelight splitting element 121 is configured to split light generated by thelight source unit 11, eachlight splitting element 121 splits the detection light with one wavelength, and the number of thelight splitting elements 121 and the light splitting wavelength of eachlight splitting element 121 may be determined according to the wavelength of the required detection light. The wavelength of the detection light can be adjusted by exchanging thelight splitting elements 121 with different light splitting wavelengths, and the number of the detection light can be adjusted by adjusting the number of thelight splitting elements 121, so that the wavelength requirements of different particles to be detected 21 on the detection light can be met. Because thelight splitting element 121 has a small volume and is convenient to disassemble and replace, and only one light source needs to be arranged, the particle analysis device provided by the embodiment has a small volume, and the wavelength of the detection light can be conveniently and flexibly adjusted.
For example, referring to fig. 2, the lightray adjustment unit 12 includes a firstlight splitting element 1211 and a secondlight splitting element 1212, and the firstlight splitting element 1211 and the secondlight splitting element 1212 may be replaced when the wavelength of the detection light needs to be adjusted. For example, the wavelengths of the detection light split by the firstlight splitting element 1211 and the secondlight splitting element 1212 are 488nm and 640nm, respectively, when the detection light of 488nm is not needed, the firstlight splitting element 1211 may be removed and replaced with thelight splitting element 121 of another light splitting wavelength, for example, thelight splitting element 121 of 560 nm.
Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of another light adjustment unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, referring to fig. 3, when the detected light with other wavelengths needs to be added, thespectroscopic element 121 may be added, for example, when the detected light with 488nm, 640nm and 560nm is needed, thethird spectroscopic element 1213 with a spectroscopic wavelength of 560nm may be added.
Optionally, thelight splitting element 121 is a band-pass light splitting element. Thespectroscopic element 121 may be any bandpass spectroscopic element such as a bandpass filter, for example, a polarizing bandpass filter. For example, thespectroscopic element 121 may be a polarizing band pass filter having a spectroscopic wavelength of 488nm + -5 nm, 640nm + -5 nm, 560nm + -5 nm, or 405nm + -5 nm.
Optionally, thelight adjusting unit 12 includes a fixingelement 122, and at least twolight splitting elements 121 are detachably fixed to the fixingelement 122.
Specifically, thelight splitting element 121 may be fixed to the fixingelement 122 in a removable manner such as a plug manner or a snap manner, and the specific fixing manner is not specifically limited in this embodiment, as long as the fixing of the position of thelight splitting element 121 is ensured, the optical path transmission is not affected, and the light splitting element is convenient to be removed and replaced.
Optionally, the lightray adjustment unit 12 further includes areflection element 123 and at least two switchablelight splitting elements 121; the reflectingelement 123 is disposed opposite to thelight splitting element 121.
The reflectingelement 123 is configured to receive the light reflected by thelight splitting element 121 or the reflectingelement 123 is configured to project the light to thelight splitting element 121, so that at least twolight splitting elements 121 split the detection light with at least two different wavelengths simultaneously.
Specifically, the reflectingelement 123 may be disposed opposite to the plurality oflight splitting elements 121, the light emitted from thelight source unit 11 may be incident on one of thelight splitting elements 121 disposed on the fixingelement 122, thelight splitting element 121 splits the light with a certain wavelength and then reflects the light with other wavelengths to the reflectingelement 123, the reflectingelement 123 reflects the light to the adjacentlight splitting element 121, and the adjacentlight splitting element 121 similarly splits the light with a certain wavelength and then reflects the light with other wavelengths to the reflectingelement 123 until all the detection light with a desired wavelength is split. By providing thereflective element 123, the light emitted from thelight source unit 11 can be split and projected onto the plurality ofbeam splitting elements 121, so as to obtain a plurality of detection lights with different wavelengths at the same time.
Optionally, referring to fig. 3, thereflection element 123 is disposed in parallel with the fixingelement 122, at least twolight splitting elements 121 are disposed on the fixingelement 122, and a first preset angle a is formed between the at least twolight splitting elements 121 and the light emitted by thelight source unit 11.
Specifically, thelight splitting elements 121 may be arranged side by side on the fixedelement 122, and exemplarily, referring to fig. 3, the firstlight splitting element 1211, the secondlight splitting element 1212, and the thirdlight splitting element 1213 are arranged on the fixedelement 122 in sequence. The continuous spectrum laser light emitted from thelight source unit 11 is irradiated to the firstlight splitting element 1211 at the first preset angle a, the firstlight splitting element 1211 transmits light of a certain wavelength to generate detection light of a single wavelength, reflects light of other wavelengths to the reflectingelement 123 at a certain angle, the reflectingelement 123 reflects the light to the secondlight splitting element 1212 to generate detection light of a single wavelength, reflects light of other wavelengths to the reflectingelement 123 again, and so on until the detection light of all wavelengths is split. The first preset angle a depends on the parameters of thelight splitting element 121, and the embodiment is not particularly limited, for example, a may be 30 degrees, 45 degrees, and the like.
Fig. 4 is a schematic view of another particle analysis apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present invention, and optionally, referring to fig. 4, the detectionlight generation module 10 further includes a convergingunit 14 for converging the detection light.
Specifically, the convergingunit 14 may adopt a lens, an optical fiber, or a combination of a lens and an optical fiber, and this embodiment is not limited in particular.
Optionally, the at least two light splitting elements include a first light splitting element, an … … nth light splitting element, and an n +1 th light splitting element, where n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1;
a second preset angle is formed between the reflecting element and the first light splitting element, a second preset angle is formed between the n +1 light splitting element and the n light splitting element, and the included angle between the n +1 light splitting element and the first light splitting element is n times of the second preset angle.
The first light splitting element, … … nth light splitting element and n +1 th light splitting element are defined according to the order in which the light splitting elements receive the light emitted from the light source unit, that is, the first light splitting element is the first light splitting element that receives the light emitted from the light source unit, and the nth light splitting element is the nth light splitting element that receives the light emitted from the light source unit. The included angle between the n +1 th light splitting element and the first light splitting element is n times of a second preset angle, namely the reflection element, the second light splitting element, the … … th light splitting element and the n +1 th light splitting element deflect towards the same direction relative to the first light splitting element, and each light splitting element in the n +1 light splitting elements deflects towards the same direction relative to the previous light splitting element.
Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of another light adjustment unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, and referring to fig. 5, the following description is given by taking n-2 as an example:
specifically, referring to fig. 5, thereflection element 123, the secondlight splitting element 1212 and the thirdlight splitting element 1213 deflect in the same direction with respect to the firstlight splitting element 1211, a second preset angle b is formed between thereflection element 123 and the firstlight splitting element 1211, a second preset angle b is formed between the secondlight splitting element 1212 and the firstlight splitting element 1211, and a second preset angle b is formed between the thirdlight splitting element 1213 and the secondlight splitting element 1212. Thus, the light emitted from thelight splitting element 121 is converged at a certain angle, and the detection light can be irradiated to a preset detection region in the liquid flow chamber without providing a converging unit or the like. The converging angle of the detection light with different wavelengths can be determined according to the size of the detection area, so as to determine a second preset angle b, and b can be set to be 5 degrees or the like exemplarily.
It should be noted that, this embodiment only illustrates that the plurality oflight splitting elements 121 are arranged side by side, and the invention is not limited thereto, and in other embodiments, thelight splitting elements 121 may be arranged in other arrangements as needed, for example, may be arranged in an array, and the like.
Alternatively, referring to fig. 2 to 3 and fig. 5, the probe light generating module further includes alight shielding unit 124;
thelight shielding unit 124 is used for absorbing the non-detection light emitted from the light ray adjusting unit.
Thelight shielding unit 124 absorbs the non-detection light, i.e. the light emitted by the light adjusting unit except the detection light, so as to prevent the non-detection light from affecting the particle detection.
Specifically, when the light ray adjusting unit includes onelight splitting element 121, thelight shielding unit 124 may absorb the light ray reflected by the onelight splitting element 121, and when the light ray adjusting unit includes at least twolight splitting elements 121, thelight shielding unit 124 may absorb the light ray reflected by the (n + 1) th light splitting element. Thelight shielding unit 124 may be disposed on the fixingelement 122, and thelight shielding unit 124 may be disposed side by side with thelight splitting element 121, behind the (n + 1) th light splitting element; thelight shielding unit 124 may also be disposed side by side with thereflective element 123 and opposite to the n +1 th light splitting element.
For example, referring to fig. 5, thelight shielding unit 124 may directly absorb the light reflected by the thirdlight dividing element 1213, or the light reflected by the thirdlight dividing element 1213 enters thelight shielding unit 124 through thereflective element 123 and is absorbed by thelight shielding unit 124.
Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of another particle analysis apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present invention, and optionally, referring to fig. 6, the detectionlight generation module 10 further includes ashaping unit 13 for shaping the detection light emitted by thelight splitting element 121.
Specifically, the shapingunit 13 may adjust the spot shape and the spot size of the detection light, so that the detection light has a suitable spot size and a suitable shape when projected in the detection region, and for example, the shapingunit 13 may adjust the spot shape of the detection light to a circular shape, a square shape, and the like.
Fig. 7 is a schematic view of another particle analysis apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present invention, and optionally, referring to fig. 7, the particle analysis apparatus further includes:
and theimaging module 40 is used for performing imaging analysis on theparticles 31 to be detected.
Specifically, theimaging module 40 is configured to obtain an image of the flowingparticles 31 to be detected in real time; theimaging module 40 may acquire a fluorescence image of theparticle 31 to be measured, and may also acquire a scattered light image of the particle 21 to be measured.
Theimaging module 40 may perform fluorescence imaging on a substance inside or on the surface of theparticle 31 to be detected, which is labeled with fluorescein, or perform scattered light imaging on an area of theparticle 31 to be detected, which is irradiated by the detection light. Theimaging module 40 may acquire a plurality of images of theparticle 31 to be measured at a time, and illustratively may acquire a three-dimensional image of theparticle 31 to be measured, and two-dimensional images of different layers inside, and the three-dimensional image and the two-dimensional images may be fluorescence images or scattered light images.
The present embodiment also provides a particle sorting apparatus, and fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a particle sorting apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present invention, and referring to fig. 8, the sorting apparatus includes asorting module 50, a collectingmodule 60, and a particle analysis device according to any embodiment of the present invention;
thesorting module 50 is configured to sort theparticles 31 to be tested according to the analysis result of the particle analysis device;
the collectingmodule 60 is used for collecting the sortedparticles 31 to be measured.
Specifically, the sortingmodule 50 may sort theparticles 31 to be measured according to the analysis result of theoptical detection module 20 of the particle analysis apparatus, or may sort theparticles 31 to be measured according to the analysis results of theoptical detection module 20 and theimaging module 40. The sortingmodule 50 may charge theparticles 31 to be measured according to the analysis result of the particle analysis apparatus, and apply different voltages to the chargedparticles 31 to be measured, so that the chargedparticles 31 to be measured enter the corresponding sorting gates.
It is to be noted that the foregoing is only illustrative of the preferred embodiments of the present invention and the technical principles employed. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described herein, but is capable of various obvious modifications, rearrangements, combinations and substitutions as will now become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, although the present invention has been described in greater detail by the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and may include other equivalent embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is determined by the scope of the appended claims.