An epiiluminator/detector unit permitting arc lamp illumination for fluorescence activated cell sorters

The application of arc lamps to flow cytometers is discussed and epiillumination for jet-in-air cell sorters is introduced. An epiilluminator/detector unit equipped with a mercury arc lamp constructed for a commercially available cell sorter is described. Experiments in which laser and mercury arc lamp illumination were compared show that the signal-to-noise ratio for the arc lamp illumination is predominantly limited by shot noise from constant light backgrounds due to reflected excitation light and ambient light. Arc lamp illumination can be used for the sorting of highly fluorescent objects such as cells stained for DNA by for example: ethidium bromide, propidium iodide, or the Hoechst dyes. The simultaneous employment of mercury arc and laser light sources as an inexpensive dual wavelength system is discussed.