Abstract: Samples are prepared and applied to a cuvette, and the cuvette is translated in a given direction. Laser light is coupled to the sample through a Bragg cell, which causes the beam to scan the sample transversely to the given direction. Select optical parameters are monitored, and when they occur, the scan is stopped or slowed for a more complete analysis of the illuminated cell.

Abstract: A sample of whole blood is stained with an acridine orange reagent, and is analyzed rapidly, a cell at a time, in a flow cytometry system having a sample stream dimension in the range of expected red cell dimensions. Red florescence and forward scatter data is utilized first to discriminate a cell from noise, and then to distinguish platelets from reticulocytes and red cells. The red cell and reticulocyte data is subjected to a correction such as rotational coordinate shift, and the shifted data are, by means of statistical procedures, utilized to determine threshold criteria separating red cells from reticulocytes, and to enumerate the cells on that basis.

Abstract: A fluid sampling nozzle is spatially fixed, and adapted to be supplied by fluid to be sampled. A nearby actuating switch, manipulated by the operator, energizes a sequence of sampling, cleaning, and drying steps. In particular, once fluid is withdrawn, the sample is removed. A waste removal sink pivots to a point beneath the nozzle, and in a series of motions by a probe washer assembly, the nozzle is successively washed, inside and out. The apparatus is then returned to its initial position, ready for successive sampling operations.