Estimation of morphological characteristics of single particles from light scattering data in flow cytometry

Numerical methods for solving the reverse problem of light scattering for single particles and a variety of experimental results have been reviewed. In particular, the two-dimensional Mie scattering method for the estimation of sizes and refractive indices of single particles has been developed. The method of triple two-dimensional Mie scattering has been elaborated, which extends the range of particle sizes with correct solutions of the reverse light scattering problem. The flying light scattering indicatrix method, which allows the estimation of the parameters of spherical particles, is presented. The results of the use of a flow cytometer of standard design for the anaysis of milk microflora and for an AIDS immunoassay by latex agglutination are given. The design of a scanning flow cytometer is considered. The results of measuring the light scattering from polystyrene latex particles are given.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 7, pp. 1181–1190, July, 1994.The author is grateful to A. K. Petrov and M. A. Kamkhe for supporting the work on cytometry, E. G. Saprykin for useful discussion and comments, G. Alm (Swedish Agricultural Univ.) for initiating the interest to immunological studies, and A. V. Chernyshev, T. S. Mashnin, V. I. Prots, and A. A. Doroshkin for cooperation.