Apparatus, methods and processes for sorting particles and for providing sex-sorted animal sperm

1. A multi-channel system for classifying sperm cells according to one or more characteristics of the sperm cells, said system comprising:

a plurality of flow channels, each of which directs sample fluid containing a mixture of sperm cells through an interrogation location when in use;

a common fluid source in communication with each of the plurality of flow channels for supplying sheath fluid to surround the sample fluid in each of the plurality of flow channels;

a common source of electromagnetic radiation for producing a beam of electromagnetic radiation;

a beam splitter for producing multiple beams of electromagnetic radiation from the common source of electromagnetic radiation, wherein at least one of the multiple beams of electromagnetic radiation intersects the interrogation location associated with each flow channel;

at least one detector which detects electromagnetic radiation from sperm cells at each interrogation location; said detector being operable to output a time-varying analog signal indicative of the intensity of the detected electromagnetic radiation;

an analog to digital converter adapted to receive the time-varying analog signal as input and to sample the analog signal to produce a digitized output; and

a processor operable to receive the digitized output and classify sperm cells in the mixture of sperm cells according to one or more characteristics of the sperm cells.

2. The multi-channel system of claim 1 , wherein each flow channel is associated with a flow cytometry unit in a plurality of flow cytometry units.

3. The multi-channel system of claim 2 , wherein each flow cytometry unit is housed in a common housing.

4. The multi-channel system of claim 2 , wherein said flow cytometry units comprise interchangeable modules removably mounted in the common housing.

5. The multi-channel system of claim 2 , wherein said flow cytometry units are configured to operate in parallel.

6. The multi-channel system of claim 2 , wherein said plurality of flow cytometry units are operable to sort the sperm cells.

7. The multi-channel system of claim 2 , wherein said plurality of flow cytometry units comprises a jet-in air droplet sorting flow cytometry unit.

8. The multi-channel system of claim 2 , wherein one or more of the plurality of flow cytometry units comprises a jet-in-air droplet sorting flow cytometry unit.

9. The multi-channel system of claim 2 , further comprising a common input for controlling operation of said plurality of flow cytometry units and wherein the processor comprises a common processor for receiving and processing information from said plurality of flow cytometry units.

10. The multi-channel system of claim 9 wherein the common processor is operable to send control signals to the plurality of flow cytometry units in real time during a sorting process to adjust their operation as a function of said information received by the common processor, and wherein the flow cytometry units are responsive to the control signals.

11. The multi-channel system of claim 2 , wherein at least one of said plurality of flow cytometry units comprises a photo-damage system.

12. The multi-channel system of claim 1 , wherein the processor comprises a common processor which receives digitized output from sperm cells in each of the flow channels, wherein each flow channel is associated with a flow cytometry unit in a plurality of flow cytometry units.

13. The multi-channel system of claim 12 , wherein the common processor comprises one or more digital signal processors.

14. The multi-channel system of claim 12 , wherein the common processor is operable to output one or more of the following: an indication of a fluorescence intensity measured by each flow cytometry unit, an indication of sperm cell staining variations, an indication of a rate at which each flow cytometry unit is separating sperm cells, and an indication of a decision boundary used by each flow cytometry unit for discriminating between sperm cells.

15. The multi-channel system of claim 12 , wherein the common processor is operable to perform at least one of the following: (1) receive and process information in real time; and (2) receive and process information to permit evaluation of the operation of one flow cytometry unit in the plurality of flow cytometry units relative to another flow cytometry unit in the plurality of flow cytometry units.

16. The multi-channel system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is operable to receive the digitized output of the analog to digital converter as a substantially continuous stream and to process the digitized output in real time.

17. The multi-channel system of claim 1 , wherein said processor is operable to process the digitized output as multiple digital samples in the form of a pulse waveform.

18. The multi-channel system of claim 1 , wherein the processor comprises multiple processors.