The CyFlow® Sorter is the result of more than 40 years of experience in the field of flow cytometry for research and routine applications in cell and particle characterization.

In order to overcome the problems of droplet sorters (i.e. exposure to biohazardous aerosols and sterile sort contamination) Partec has developed a unique, closed sorting system. The CyFlow® Sorter can work safely in sterile conditions. Any environmental contamination is completely avoided under normal operating conditions. In addition, the sorting action takes place gently and smoothly. Fragile cells or large particles (e. g. plant protoplasts or islets of Langerhans) are sorted without any distortion or other forces acting on the cells during deflection. Long sorting runs, for several hundred milliliters of sample volume, are possible.

The Flow Chamber has a piezo valve and an electronic device for the piezoelectric activation. The diamond-piezo deflects the cells of interest in a second branch of the flow cell. During the piezoelectric activation, a pressure wave is generated and, as a consequence, a small volume of sheath fluid is deflected together with the cell of interest. Dilution should be considered at the end of the process. The piezo activation step of the sorting process is repeated each time there is a cell to sort, based on that cell’s light-scattering and fluorescence properties. In the Sorting Flow Cell, each cell is analyzed and the electronic signals are processed and sent to the computer, where it is decided which cells should be sorted according to the user-defined software gates.

A special feature of the CyFlow® Sorter is the ability to sort the cells in the gate without allowing unwanted cells to contaminate the sorted cells.  This method guarantees a high purity, since the “wrong” cells are not sorted by mistake. The Partec sorting principle is highly stable, constant, and without vibrations or aerosols, because the whole system is closed. The Partec sorter works with relatively low pressure differences in the flow pathway, thus avoiding unexpected pressure changes and high sheer forces that damage fragile cells. Therefore, the morphology and vitality of cells are not influenced by sorting. Partec instruments have the advantage of an extremely precise and stable system control of the time delay between measurement and piezo activation, which maximizes the yield of each sort. Another unique feature of Partec instruments is the built-in CCD camera, which allows users to watch the whole process directly on the computer monitor while it is sorting.

The CyFlow® Sorter can be used as an add-on to the Partec CyFlow® Space and CyFlow® Cube 8 and serves as an optimized module for simplified and precise cell sorting.

Specifications

Partec CyFlow® Sorter

Sorting Flow Cell Specifications

Completely closed quartz-type flow cell with a 200 micron sorting channel for particle sizes up to 60 microns in diameter (other sorting channel dimensions are optional).

Sorting Action

The piezo-crystal controls particle deviation and has an adjustable delay between point of analysis and deflection.

Sorting Control Unit

The user can set the sorting parameters for piezo-crystal energy, delay, slope, and hold time. There is a direct connection to the processor.

Sorting Speed

Input up to 100,000 cells per second and output up to 300 sorted cells per second with sorting purity up to 99%.

Order Information

Partec CyFlow® Sorter

12-01-1000 Partec CyFlow® Sorter for Partec CyFlow® Space
CY-S-3069 Partec CyFlow® Cube Sorter for the Partec CyFlow® Cube 8