Flow cytometry instrumentation maker Kinetic River (Mountain View, CA) has been awarded a contract from the National Cancer Institute (NCI; Bethesda, MD) for delivery of its Potomac modular flow cytometer customized to use novel light sources.
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The Potomac flow cytometer was purchased by the laboratory of William Telford, Ph.D., at NCI, where it will be used to test novel laser sources for applicability to flow cytometry. It will also serve as a test bed for new detectors, electronics, and other technologies critical to the future of flow cytometry.
The Potomac customized for NCI incorporates a fiber-coupled 488 nm laser light source, two scattering detectors, and five channels for fluorescence detection. It additionally receives laser beams from external sources, such as pulsed and supercontinuum lasers, for novel excitation of cell samples. The optical bench is based on rails and cube/rod assemblies from Excelitas Technologies (Waltham, MA), simplifying alignment and allowing easy reconfiguration.
For optical system design, Kinetic River uses its own proprietary modeling tools, which allow interactive design exploration on an intuitive dashboard interface. For customization of the instrument, it relies on the company's BeamWise 3D CAD optomechanical design tool that streamlines system development through the creation of a virtual optical bench.
For more information, please visit www.kineticriver.com.