COPAS
Measured Parameters
Five parameters are recorded for each object of interest:
- Optical density of the object (optical extinction)
- Axial length (size) of the object
- Simultaneous detection of up to three colors of fluorescence
COPAS instruments allow for multiple fluorescence excitation and emission wavelengths. In the standard configuration, the instrument has fluorescence detectors for the green, yellow and/or red regions of the spectrum to cover GFP, YFP and RFP fluorescent proteins, as well as numerous other commercially available fluorophores.
For combinatorial chemistry applications, the system can be customized with various lasers, including UV, to excite fluorescence tags more commonly used in that field.
Sorting rates vary with the concentration of the sample and percentage of the total sample that is being dispensed, but can range up to 100,000 events per hour.