METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY IDENTIFYING AND COUNTING VARIOUS CELLS IN BODY FLUIDS

The various types of cells in body fluids are automatically identified by measuring the area of each cell that is occupied by nucleus and cytoplasm and automatically comparing these measurements to each other and also to the total cell area. In the preferred embodiment, the fluid containing the cells is treated with a stain capable of fluorescing when complexed and then excited by an ultraviolet source. The nuclear and cytoplasmic portions of each corpuscle will fluoresce with a radiation characteristic of the type of material. The sample to be counted is caused to flow past a counting station which is in the same plane as the source of ultraviolet radiation and the measurements are taken from the secondary fluorescent emissions of these materials. This information is fed to logic circuits and ultimately to counters which output the results.