Flow cytometry instrumentation developer Kinetic River (Mountain View, CA) has been issued a patent from the Japanese Patent Office covering its technologies for time-resolved flow cytometry. The official patent registration number is JP 6941053 B2, and was issued on September 7, 2021. This patent adds to a portfolio of 13 issued and 17 pending U.S. and international patents.
The subject of Kinetic River’s latest issued patent, time-resolved flow cytometry, provides solutions to these longstanding problems. This technology suite provides the ability to measure the lifetime of fluorescence emission following excitation with short laser pulses. This added parameter, in turn, allows discrimination of different dyes not only based on their color, but also based on their temporal emission signature.
In one application, Kinetic River’s technology enables compensation-free flow cytometry, greatly reducing both the labor burden on users and operators and the operating costs, due to the reduced number of control materials required to perform each experiment. In another application, the technology makes possible fluorescence-based instrumentation capable of measuring simultaneously 40+ colors with high sensitivity.
The patented innovation also allows for automated removal of autofluorescence background in signals from cells or microspheres. By distinguishing autofluorescence from fluorescence due to added dyes, Kinetic River’s technology offers greater sensitivity, more robust operation, and reduced operational costs. In addition, the technology demonstrated the ability to characterize autofluorescence emissions, which can be used to distinguish cancer cells from normal ones.
By establishing patent protection for this technology suite in Japan, this patent allows Kinetic River to pursue a sizable, growing market with presence across all the major flow cytometry segments.