A microfluidic cell image acquisition system and its application method

Abstract

The present invention discloses a microfluidic cell image acquisition system and an application method thereof, and relates to the technical field of cell image acquisition. The image acquisition mode of a high-speed camera is configured as an external trigger mode. With the aid of a detection device, before a single cell reaches the observation area of ​​the high-speed camera, the arrival of a single cell at a detection point is first detected. Then, the processor calculates the shooting moment of the single cell passing through the detection point by the high-speed camera, and sends a trigger signal to the high-speed camera at the shooting moment. When the high-speed camera receives the trigger signal of the processor, it shoots a frame of image and sends the image to the processor, instead of letting the high-speed camera shoot frame by frame continuously, thereby increasing the effective frame ratio and the effective cell acquisition ratio, reducing image redundancy, and improving the system working efficiency. The existing microfluidic cell image acquisition system uses a high-frame-rate high-speed camera to continuously acquire images, but the effective frame ratio is low, which wastes storage resources and affects the efficiency of data analysis.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of cell image acquisition, and in particular to a microfluidic cell image acquisition system and an application method thereof. Background Art

[0002] The existing microfluidic cell image acquisition system consists of a microfluidic chip, a camera, a pump and an optical system. The microfluidic chip is provided with a flow channel designed for observing cells. The processed cell sample is pressed into the flow channel by the pump. The cell sample flows continuously and at high speed in the flow channel and passes through the observation area one after another. The camera continuously collects the flow channel image of the observation area at a certain frame rate through the optical system, so as to observe the morphology of the cells when flowing through the observation area. Among them, the image acquisition process of the camera is continuously shot. In each image acquisition cycle, the camera must complete the entire exposure / readout process before the next image acquisition begins. Each exposure time interval information cannot be collected. In many cases, the cell flow rate is very fast, and each exposure interval is sufficient to pass through the observation area. If a cell passes through the observation area and the camera is just in the exposure interval, the cell cannot be captured by the camera. Therefore, the existing method is to use a high-speed camera with a higher frame rate and a shorter exposure interval to collect images. However, although this method reduces cell omissions, the high-speed camera continues to collect images when no cells pass through the observation area, resulting in many images without cells and a low effective frame rate. While wasting storage resources, it is also necessary to select images with cells from a large number of images for data analysis, which affects efficiency. Summary of the invention

[0003] The present invention provides a microfluidic cell image acquisition system and an application method thereof, which are used to solve the technical problems that the existing microfluidic cell image acquisition system uses a high-speed camera with a high frame rate to continuously acquire images, has a low effective frame ratio, wastes storage resources and affects data analysis efficiency.

[0004] In view of this, the first aspect of the present invention provides a microfluidic cell image acquisition system, including a microfluidic chip, a detection device, a high-speed camera and a processor;

[0005] The detection device and the high-speed camera are respectively connected to the processor;

[0006] The detection device is used to detect whether a single cell passes through a detection point on the flow channel of the microfluidic chip, and the detection point is located behind the observation area of ​​the high-speed camera in the flow direction of the single cell;

[0007] The processor is used to calculate the shooting time of the single cell by the high-speed camera according to the distance between the detection point and the observation area of ​​the high-speed camera when the detection device detects that the single cell passes through the detection point, and send a trigger signal to the high-speed camera at the shooting time, wherein the calculation formula for calculating the shooting time of the single cell by the high-speed camera by the processor is:

[0008]

[0009] in, is the moment when the high-speed camera takes the picture of the single cell, is the optional shooting time range of the high-speed camera, is the time when the single cell begins to pass through the detection point, is the time from when the single cell starts to pass through the detection point to when it completely passes through the detection point, is the distance between the detection point and the near end of the observation area, is the distance between the detection point and the far end of the observation area, is the length of the single cell in the flow direction;

[0010] The image acquisition mode of the high-speed camera is configured as an external trigger mode. In the external trigger mode, when the high-speed camera receives a trigger signal from the processor, it captures a frame of image and sends the image to the processor.

[0011] Optionally, when the cell flow rate on the flow channel of the microfluidic chip meets The shooting time is At any moment in the, where v is the cell velocity, D is the distance between two adjacent cells, It is the time from when the high-speed camera finishes shooting one frame of image to when it can shoot the next frame of image.

[0012] Optionally, the flow channel of the microfluidic chip is configured to control the cell flow rate to , where v is the cell velocity, It is the time from when the high-speed camera finishes shooting one frame of image to when it can shoot the next frame of image.

[0013] Optionally, the processor determines the shooting time according to the last shooting time of the high-speed camera, and when the last shooting time of the high-speed camera satisfies When the shooting time is the last shooting time of the high-speed camera, when the last shooting time of the high-speed camera satisfies The shooting time is At any time in The shooting time is At any moment in is the last shooting moment of the high-speed camera.

[0014] Optionally, the detection device includes a light source and a photomultiplier tube;

[0015] The photomultiplier tube is used to detect whether the single cell passes through the detection point according to the light signal at the detection point;

[0016] The light source is used to provide the photomultiplier tube with detection light for detecting whether the single cell passes through the detection point.

[0017] Optionally, the light source includes a laser and an optical element;

[0018] The laser is used to emit laser light;

[0019] The optical element is used to shape the laser emitted by the laser into a linear laser, which is perpendicular to the flow direction of the single cell on the flow channel of the microfluidic chip, and is also used to transmit the linear laser received at the detection point to the photomultiplier tube.

[0020] Optionally, it also includes a cell feeding device;

[0021] The cell feeding device is used to feed the cell sample containing the single cell into the flow channel of the microfluidic chip.

[0022] Optionally, the cell feeding device is a pneumatic pump or a syringe pump.

[0023] Optionally, a filter is also included;

[0024] The filter is arranged between the inlet of the flow channel of the microfluidic chip and the detection point.

[0025] The second aspect of the present invention provides an application method of the microfluidic cell image acquisition system provided in the first aspect, comprising:

[0026] The cell sample is introduced into the flow channel of the microfluidic chip;

[0027] Detecting whether a single cell passes through a detection point on the flow channel of the microfluidic chip by a detection device, and feeding back the detection result to the processor in real time;

[0028] When the detection device detects that the single cell passes through the detection point, the processor calculates the shooting time of the single cell passing through the detection point by the high-speed camera according to the distance between the detection point and the observation area of ​​the high-speed camera;

[0029] The processor sends a trigger signal to the high-speed camera at the shooting time;

[0030] When receiving the trigger signal, the high-speed camera captures a frame of image and sends the image to the processor.

[0031] It can be seen from the above technical solutions that the microfluidic cell image acquisition system provided by the present invention has the following advantages:

[0032] The microfluidic cell image acquisition system provided by the present invention configures the image acquisition mode of the high-speed camera as an external trigger mode, and with the help of a detection device, in the flow channel of the microfluidic chip, before the single cell reaches the observation area of ​​the camera, first detects that the single cell arrives at the detection point, and then calculates the shooting time of the single cell passing through the detection point by the high-speed camera through the processor, and sends a trigger signal to the high-speed camera at the shooting time. When the high-speed camera receives the trigger signal of the processor, it shoots a frame of image and sends the image to the processor, instead of letting the high-speed camera shoot frame by frame continuously. The camera performance is fully utilized, the empty frame rate is reduced, the effective frame ratio and the effective cell acquisition ratio are increased, the image redundancy is reduced, and the system working efficiency is improved. The system is suitable for scenarios such as low-density cell imaging flow observation, and solves the technical problems that the existing microfluidic cell image acquisition system uses a high-frame rate high-speed camera to continuously acquire images, the effective frame ratio is low, the storage resources are wasted, and the data analysis efficiency is affected.

[0033] The microfluidic cell image acquisition system provided by the present invention provides a calculation formula for calculating the shooting time of a single cell by a high-speed camera based on the distance between a detection point and an observation area of ​​the high-speed camera, thereby ensuring that the exposure time of the high-speed camera can capture a single cell image. At the same time, the microfluidic cell image acquisition system provided by the present invention does not require modification of the flow channel structure and has strong operability.

[0034] Furthermore, the microfluidic cell image acquisition system provided by the present invention determines the shooting time of a single cell by a high-speed camera according to the cell flow velocity in the flow channel of the microfluidic chip, thereby avoiding the situation where the high-speed camera misses shooting cells. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0035] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other related drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0036] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of a microfluidic cell image acquisition system provided in the present invention;

[0037] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the overall principle of a microfluidic cell image acquisition system provided in the present invention;

[0038] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a process for applying a microfluidic cell image acquisition system provided in the present invention;

[0039] Wherein, the accompanying drawings are marked as follows:

[0040] 101. Detection device; 102. High-speed camera; 103. Cells; 104. Flow channel; 105. Processor; 106. Cell introduction device; 107. Filter; 108. Laser; A. Detection point; B. Observation area. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the scheme of the present invention, the technical scheme in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0042] For easier understanding, see Figure 1 and Figure 2The present invention provides an embodiment of a microfluidic cell image acquisition system, comprising a microfluidic chip, a detection device 101, a high-speed camera 102 and a processor 105, wherein the detection device 101 and the high-speed camera 102 are respectively connected to the processor 105, the detection device 101 is used to detect whether a single cell 103 passes through a detection point on a flow channel 104 of the microfluidic chip, and the detection point is located behind an observation area of ​​the high-speed camera 102 in a flow direction of the single cell 103, and the processor 105 is used to calculate a shooting time of the single cell 103 by the high-speed camera 102 according to a distance between the detection point and the observation area of ​​the high-speed camera 102 when the detection device 101 detects that a single cell 103 passes through the detection point, and send a trigger signal to the high-speed camera 102 at the shooting time, and the image acquisition mode of the high-speed camera 102 is configured as an external trigger mode, and in the external trigger mode, when the high-speed camera 102 receives a trigger signal from the processor 105, it shoots a frame of image and sends the image to the processor 105.

[0043] It should be noted that the microfluidic chip is provided with a flow channel 104 designed for observing single cells 103. The present invention does not limit the manufacturing process of the flow channel 104 of the microfluidic chip, as long as the material used to make the flow channel 104 of the microfluidic chip is light-transmissive. Specifically, the present invention uses PDMS-glass bonding to make the flow channel 104. The processed cell sample containing the single cell 103 is fed into the flow channel 104 from the entrance of the flow channel 104 by the cell feeding device 106. Under the design of the flow channel 104, the single cells 103 entering the flow channel 104 pass through the detection point A one by one. Figure 1 As shown, Figure 1In the figure, the black solid line represents the flow channel 104, the dots represent the single cells 103 flowing at high speed, the arrow points to the flow direction of the single cells 103, point A is the detection point, and the dotted box at point B represents the observation area of ​​the high-speed camera 102. The detection point is located behind the observation area of ​​the high-speed camera 102 in the flow direction of the single cells 103, that is, after entering the flow channel 104, the single cells 103 will first pass through the detection point A and then pass through the observation area B of the high-speed camera 102. When the single cell 103 passes through the detection point A, it can be detected by the detection device 101. The detection device 101 sends a signal that the single cell 103 passes through the detection point A to the processor 105. When the processor 105 receives the signal that the single cell 103 passes through the detection point A, it calculates the time required for the single cell 103 to reach the observation area B from the detection point A according to the distance between the detection point and the observation area of ​​the high-speed camera 102, thereby determining the shooting time of the high-speed camera 102, and sending a trigger signal to the high-speed camera 102 at the shooting time. The image acquisition mode of the high-speed camera 102 is configured as an external trigger mode. In the external trigger mode, the high-speed camera 102 will capture a frame of image only when it receives a trigger signal, and will not capture an image if it does not receive a trigger signal. When the high-speed camera 102 receives a trigger signal from the processor 105, it captures a frame of image and sends the image to the processor 105. After the high-speed camera 102 captures a frame of image, it returns to the waiting trigger state and waits for the next trigger signal.

[0044] The calculation formula for calculating the shooting time of the high-speed camera 102 based on the distance between the detection point and the observation area of ​​the high-speed camera 102 ensures that the exposure time of the high-speed camera 102 can capture the cell image. The calculation formula for the processor 105 to calculate the shooting time of the high-speed camera 102 is:

[0045]

[0046] in, is the moment when the high-speed camera 102 takes a picture of a single cell 103, is the selectable shooting time range of the high-speed camera 102, is the moment when the single cell 103 begins to pass through the detection point A, is the time taken for a single cell 103 to pass through detection point A from the beginning to the complete passing through detection point A, is the distance between the detection point A and the near end of the observation area, is the distance between the detection point A and the far end of the observation area, is the length of a single cell 103 in the flow direction, and the length can be set as a corresponding constant according to the type of the single cell 103 based on empirical values.

[0047] The microfluidic cell image acquisition system provided by the present invention configures the image acquisition mode of the high-speed camera 102 as an external trigger mode. With the help of the detection device 101, in the flow channel 104 of the microfluidic chip, before the single cell 103 reaches the observation area of ​​the camera, the arrival of the single cell 103 at the detection point A is first detected, and then the processor 105 calculates the shooting time of the single cell 103 passing through the detection point A by the high-speed camera 102, and sends a trigger signal to the high-speed camera 102 at the shooting time. When the high-speed camera 102 receives the trigger signal of the processor 105, it shoots a frame of image and sends the image to the processor 105, instead of letting the high-speed camera 102 shoot frame by frame continuously. The camera performance is fully utilized, the empty frame rate is reduced, the effective frame ratio and the effective cell acquisition ratio are increased, the image redundancy is reduced, and the system working efficiency is improved. The system is suitable for scenarios such as low-density cell imaging flow observation, and solves the technical problems that the existing microfluidic cell image acquisition system uses a high-frame rate high-speed camera 102 to continuously acquire images, the effective frame ratio is low, the storage resources are wasted, and the data analysis efficiency is affected.

[0048] Meanwhile, the microfluidic cell image acquisition system provided by the present invention does not need to modify the structure of the flow channel 104 and has strong operability.

[0049] The shooting process of the high-speed camera 102 consists of two time periods: exposure time and readout time. After one exposure, the high-speed camera 102 needs to read out and cannot start the next exposure immediately. If the time interval between two single cells 103 passing through the detection point A is less than the readout time of the high-speed camera 102, when the high-speed camera 102 finishes shooting the image of one cell, it is difficult to capture the image of the next cell, that is, cell shooting omission may occur.

[0050] Therefore, in one embodiment of the present invention, the cell flow rate on the flow channel 104 is controlled to avoid the high-speed camera 102 from missing a single cell 103. The shooting time of the high-speed camera 102 is for At any time in the range, the high-speed camera 102 can avoid missing cell images, where v is the cell flow velocity, D is the distance between two adjacent cells, It is the time from when the high-speed camera 102 finishes shooting one frame of image to when it can shoot the next frame of image, that is, the shortest time between two exposures of the high-speed camera 102.

[0051] In one embodiment of the present invention, the flow channel 104 of the microfluidic chip is configured to control the cell flow rate to , where v is the cell velocity, The time from when the high-speed camera 102 finishes shooting one frame of image to when the next frame of image can be shot. The processor 105 calculates the time from when the high-speed camera 102 last shot the image. Determine the imaging time of a single cell 103 , when the last shooting moment of the high-speed camera 102 satisfy The image capture time of a single cell 103 is is the last shooting time of the high-speed camera 102 This can avoid the high-speed camera 102 from missing cell images; when the last shooting moment of the high-speed camera 102 satisfy The image capture time of a single cell 103 is for Any moment in the high-speed camera 102 can avoid missing cell images; when the last shooting moment of the high-speed camera 102 satisfy The image capture time of a single cell 103 is for At any moment in the process, the high-speed camera 102 can avoid missing cells from being captured.

[0052] In one embodiment, the detection device 101 includes a light source and a photomultiplier tube (PMT), and the photomultiplier tube is used to detect whether a single cell 103 passes through the detection point according to the light signal at the detection point. The light source is used to provide the photomultiplier tube with detection light for detecting whether a single cell 103 passes through the detection point. When a single cell 103 passes through the detection point A, the light path entering the photomultiplier tube is blocked. After the single cell 103 completely passes through the detection point A, the light path entering the photomultiplier tube is restored. Therefore, the light received by the photomultiplier tube will first decrease and then increase, and the electrical signal converted by the photomultiplier tube will produce a change of first decreasing and then increasing, so that it can be judged whether a single cell 103 passes through the detection point. It should be noted that the microfluidic cell image acquisition system provided in the present invention has an application scenario of image acquisition of a single cell 103. The selection of the detection device 101 requires that it should not affect the single cell 103. For example, the single cell 103 needs to be subjected to additional treatment such as fluorescent labeling and droplet encapsulation, and then the fluorescence of the single cell 103 is excited by the detection device 101 using a fluorescent excitation light source. This type of method will affect the single cell, thereby affecting the physical and chemical properties of the single cell 103 and the data quality of the single cell 103. Therefore, the light source of the detection device 101 in the present invention can use a bright field light source, a laser or other light source. For example, a bright field light source (LED light source) can be selected to simultaneously provide the detection light of the photomultiplier tube and the light required for shooting by the high-speed camera 102, which can achieve low cost. However, considering that the light signal of the bright field light source is relatively weak, it will affect the accuracy of cell speed detection. Therefore, in the present invention, the light source includes a laser 108 and an optical element. The laser 108 is used to emit laser light. The optical element is used to shape the laser emitted by the laser 108 into a linear laser, which is perpendicular to the flow direction of the single cell 103 on the flow channel 104 of the microfluidic chip. The optical element is also used to transmit the linear laser received at the detection point to the photomultiplier tube. The laser emitted by the laser 108 uses 488±5nm monochromatic light. Compared with the bright field light source, the laser has a stronger optical signal and can better ensure the accuracy of cell speed detection.

[0053] In one embodiment, in a microfluidic cell image acquisition system, a cell feeding device 106 for feeding a cell suspension (i.e., a cell sample containing a single cell 103) into a flow channel 104 of a microfluidic chip uses a pneumatic pump or a syringe pump with a pressure of 100 mbar. The high-speed camera has an external trigger mode, and the maximum allowable frame rate is higher than the flux of cells flowing through the flow channel estimated by the application. For example, if the cell flux is about 1000 Hz through pump control, the frame rate of the high-speed camera can be set to be above 1000 Hz. In this embodiment, the high-speed camera 102 can be set to collect at an exposure time of 10 us and a frame rate of 1000 fps. A filter 107 is provided between the inlet and the detection point of the flow channel 104 of the microfluidic chip, and the filter 107 can adopt a filtering structure with an aperture of 20 um for filtering the cell fluid. The processor 105 can be composed of a series of integrated circuit systems with Arduino or a single-chip microcomputer as the core, and has communication, data processing and transmission functions. The processor 105 is provided with a serial port for receiving analog signals from the photomultiplier tube, detecting the time interval between the falling edge and the rising edge of the signal, starting to record time with the falling edge of the photomultiplier tube, and calculating the time when the camera is triggered to take a picture, and giving a trigger signal to the high-speed camera 102 to take a picture at this time.

[0054] In order to more intuitively embody the working principle of the microfluidic cell image acquisition system provided by the present invention, a specific application example of the microfluidic cell image acquisition system is provided in the present invention for illustration. A specific application example of the microfluidic cell image acquisition system provided in the present invention is:

[0055] First, the preparation work before the experiment was carried out. Prepare 6 cm culture dishes with 80% density of adherent Hela cells, digest with trypsin, and centrifuge to obtain 6 ml of cell suspension, filter through a 30 um filter, let it stand for a while, and take the upper layer of liquid as the cell liquid for the experiment. The flow channel 104 made of PDMS-glass bonding was selected for the experiment. The flow channel 104 must include but not be limited to the following structure: an inlet and an outlet, and a straight area with a width of 30 um and a height of 20 um. A filter 107 is set between the inlet and the detection point of the flow channel 104 of the microfluidic chip.

[0056] Then, a pneumatic pump with a pressure of about 100 mbar is used to pressurize the cell suspension into the inlet of the flow channel 104, and then pass through the straight area and finally flow out from the outlet. When a single cell 103 in the cell suspension passes through the detection point, the detection device 101 detects that a single cell 103 passes through the detection point, and feeds back the detection result to the processor 105 in real time. When the detection device 101 detects that a single cell 103 passes through the detection point, the processor 105 calculates the shooting time of the high-speed camera 102 according to the distance between the detection point and the observation area of ​​the high-speed camera 102. The processor 105 sends a trigger signal to the high-speed camera 102 at the shooting time. When the high-speed camera 102 receives the trigger signal, it takes a frame of image and sends the image to the processor 105.

[0057] For easier understanding, see Figure 3 The present invention provides an application method of any one of the microfluidic cell image acquisition systems in the embodiments of the present invention, comprising:

[0058] Step S1, sending the cell sample into the flow channel of the microfluidic chip.

[0059] Step S2: Detect whether a single cell passes through a detection point on the flow channel of the microfluidic chip by using a detection device, and feed back the detection result to the processor in real time.

[0060] Step S3: When the detection device detects that a single cell passes through the detection point, the processor calculates the shooting time of the single cell passing through the detection point by the high-speed camera according to the distance between the detection point and the observation area of ​​the high-speed camera.

[0061] Step S4: The processor sends a trigger signal to the high-speed camera at the shooting moment.

[0062] Step S5: When the high-speed camera receives the trigger signal, it captures a frame of image and sends the image to the processor.

[0063] As described above, the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit the same. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments may still be modified, or some of the technical features thereof may be replaced by equivalents. However, these modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A microfluidic cell image acquisition system, characterized in that: Includes microfluidic chip, detection device, high-speed camera and processor; The detection device and the high-speed camera are respectively connected to the processor; The detection device is used to detect whether a single cell passes through a detection point on the flow channel of the microfluidic chip, and the detection point is located behind the observation area of ​​the high-speed camera in the flow direction of the single cell; The processor is used to calculate the shooting time of the single cell by the high-speed camera according to the distance between the detection point and the observation area of ​​the high-speed camera when the detection device detects that the single cell passes through the detection point, and send a trigger signal to the high-speed camera at the shooting time, wherein the calculation formula for calculating the shooting time of the single cell by the high-speed camera by the processor is: in, is the moment when the high-speed camera takes the picture of the single cell, is the optional shooting time range of the high-speed camera, is the time when the single cell begins to pass through the detection point, is the time from when the single cell starts to pass through the detection point to when it completely passes through the detection point, is the distance between the detection point and the near end of the observation area, is the distance between the detection point and the far end of the observation area, is the length of the single cell in the flow direction; The image acquisition mode of the high-speed camera is configured as an external trigger mode. In the external trigger mode, when the high-speed camera receives a trigger signal from the processor, it captures a frame of image and sends the image to the processor.

2. The microfluidic cell image acquisition system according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the cell flow rate on the flow channel of the microfluidic chip meets The shooting time is At any moment in the, where v is the cell velocity, D is the distance between two adjacent cells, It is the time from when the high-speed camera finishes shooting one frame of image to when it can shoot the next frame of image.

3. The microfluidic cell image acquisition system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The flow channel of the microfluidic chip is configured to control the cell flow rate to , where v is the cell velocity, It is the time from when the high-speed camera finishes shooting one frame of image to when it can shoot the next frame of image.

4. The microfluidic cell image acquisition system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The processor determines the shooting time according to the last shooting time of the high-speed camera, and when the last shooting time of the high-speed camera satisfies When the shooting time is the last shooting time of the high-speed camera, when the last shooting time of the high-speed camera satisfies The shooting time is At any time in The shooting time is At any moment in is the last shooting moment of the high-speed camera.

5. The microfluidic cell image acquisition system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The detection device includes a light source and a photomultiplier tube; The photomultiplier tube is used to detect whether the single cell passes through the detection point according to the light signal at the detection point; The light source is used to provide the photomultiplier tube with detection light for detecting whether the single cell passes through the detection point.

6. The microfluidic cell image acquisition system according to claim 5, characterized in that: The light source includes a laser and an optical element; The laser is used to emit laser light; The optical element is used to shape the laser emitted by the laser into a linear laser, which is perpendicular to the flow direction of the single cell on the flow channel of the microfluidic chip, and is also used to transmit the linear laser received at the detection point to the photomultiplier tube.

7. The microfluidic cell image acquisition system according to claim 1, characterized in that: Also included is a cell administration device; The cell feeding device is used to feed the cell sample containing the single cell into the flow channel of the microfluidic chip.

8. The microfluidic cell image acquisition system according to claim 7, characterized in that: The cell feeding device is a pneumatic pump or a syringe pump.

9. The microfluidic cell image acquisition system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: Also includes filters; The filter is arranged between the inlet of the flow channel of the microfluidic chip and the detection point.

10. An application method of the microfluidic cell image acquisition system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: include: The cell sample is introduced into the flow channel of the microfluidic chip; Detecting whether a single cell passes through a detection point on the flow channel of the microfluidic chip by a detection device, and feeding back the detection result to the processor in real time; When the detection device detects that the single cell passes through the detection point, the processor calculates the shooting time of the single cell passing through the detection point by the high-speed camera according to the distance between the detection point and the observation area of ​​the high-speed camera; The processor sends a trigger signal to the high-speed camera at the shooting time; When receiving the trigger signal, the high-speed camera captures a frame of image and sends the image to the processor.

Images