title: Digital data acquisition and processing.
abstract: A flow cytometer is made up of many different subsystems that work together to measure the optical properties of individual cells within a sample. The data acquisition system (also called the data system) is one of these subsystems, and it is responsible for converting the electrical signals from the optical detectors into list-mode data. This unit describes the inner workings of the data system, and provides insight into how the instrument functions as a whole. Some of the information provided in this unit is applicable to everyday use of these instruments, and, at minimum, should make it easier for the reader to assemble a specific data system. With the considerable advancement of electronics technology, it becomes possible to build an entirely functional data system using inexpensive hobbyist-level electronics. This unit covers both analog and digital data systems, but the primary focus is on the more prevalent digital data systems of modern flow cytometric instrumentation.
authors.affiliation: DarklingX, LLC, Flow Cytometry, Los Alamos, New Mexico.
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Naivar
authors.affiliation: BIO5 Institute and School of Plant Sciences, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Galbraith
mesh_terms: D004581:Electronics; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D012984:Software
keywords: ADC; DSP; data system; electronics; processing; pulse; signal