Union Biometrica Cytometry Products

COPAS FP, VISION, INFINITY or BioSorter – Choosing The Right Platform & Model

So which platform is best for your research? First it depends on the kinds of samples you want to analyze and sort because that will determine which flow cell (for COPAS) or FOCAs (for BioSorter) are best suited for your work.

		Flow Cell (COPAS) or FOCA (BioSorter)
Sample Type	Size/Stage of Object	250 µm	500 µm	1000 µm	2000 µm
*Small Model Organisms*
C. elegans	embryo to adult	R	O*
Daphnia					R
D. melanogaster	embryo to 1st instar		R
	1st and 2nd instar			R
	3rd instar				R
Zebrafish	egg-zygote-embryo				R
	hatchling/larval (2-7 dpf)				O
Zooplankton			R***	R***
*Insect Disease Vectors and Pests*
Mosquitos	embryos & early larvae		R	O
Potato and soybean cyst nematodes				R
Fruitflies	embryos & early larvae		R	R
Western corn rootworm				R	R
Fall armyworm				R	R
*Plants*
Arabidopsis & tobacco	seeds, early seedlings			R
Other plant sample types	pollen	R	O
	protoplasts	R	O
	calli		R	O
Aspergillus, fungi micro-colonies and hyphae				R
*Large Cells & Cell Clusters*
Adipocytes		R	R
Cardiomyocytes & Myotubes			R	O
Embryoid Bodies		O	R	O
Duct Cells (kidney, breast, pancreas)		R	O
Hepatocytes		R	O
Organoids				R
Pancreatic Islets			O	R
Stem Cells		R
Tumor spheroids			R	R
Beads**
Hydrogel particles and microcarriers		5-150	20-300	40-750	100-1500

R = Recommended	O = Optional

* Size resolution not as good as 250 micron, Fluorescence is OK, Speed reduced by 1/2.
** Bead sizes are "swollen" sizes in water (not dry).
*** Depends on the kind/size of zooplankton that is being studied.

Shown above are some examples of samples that have been sorted with COPAS. Our applications scientists have years of hands-on experience running thousands of samples. For a discussion regarding your specific application requirements we invite you to contact our applications staff by email or telephone.

Other considerations:

Do you need an optimized, dedicated instrument in your individual laboratory to make certain it is “always ready” and has not been exposed to any other types of samples or reagents?
Or does funding dictate that a shared instrument is the practical choice?
The degree of automation and choice of options are other factors to consider.

Additional factors are highlighted below:

Instrument Selection Guide
	COPAS™ FP Platform	BioSorter® Platform	COPAS VISION™ Platform
Target Market	Designed for individual lab or group of labs working with similar size objects.	Optimized for shared instrument locations such as Departmental or Core labs	Designed for labs where on-board imaging of samples would be helpful.
Imaging	no	no	Yes – Brightfield image capture as objects pass through the flow cell.
Flow cell size / Fluidics and Optics Core Assemblies	Choose from 4 dedicated instruments (flow cell sizes) • FP-250 (250 μm) • FP-500 (500 μm) • FP-1000 (1000 μm) • FP-2000 (2000 μm) (note: These 4 sizes were formerly known as BIOSORT, SELECT, PLUS and XL models	Interchangeable 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 micron Fluidics and Optics Core Assemblies (FOCA) available	Choose from 4 dedicated instruments: • COPAS VISION 250 • COPAS VISION 500 • COPAS VISION 1000 • COPAS VISION 2000
Recommended object size range	20 – 1500 microns across 4 instruments	10 – 1500 microns using one instrument with 4 swappable FOCA (Fluidics and Optics Core Assemblies)	10 – 1500 microns across 4 instruments
Stage for automated dispensing	X-Y stage accommodates multiwell plates and bulk receptacles	X-Y-Z stage also accommodates sample tubes and tall multiwell plates	X-Y stage accommodates multiwell plates and bulk receptacles
Ability to dispense into 384 well plates	FP-250 only	Possible with 250, 500 & 1000 micron FOCA (sample dependent)	yes
Automated Cleaning Cycle	no	yes	yes
Automated sample injection from multiwell plates	yes – LP Sampler™	yes – LP Sampler™	yes – LP Sampler™
Special sample handling: The Rotating Sample Introduction Chamber (RSIC) gently agitates samples within a 5 or 10 mL chamber without using normal mechanical stirring.	For COPAS FP-250 or COPAS FP-500 models. Recommended for: - extremely delicate samples like adipocytes & cell clusters - samples that either float or sink with normal stirring.	For BioSorter with FOCA-250 or FOCA-500. Recommended for: - extremely delicate samples like adipocytes & cell clusters - samples that either float or sink with normal stirring.	(see OSIS)
Special sample handling: The Oscillating Sample Introduction System (OSIS) gently agitates samples within a disposable syringe without using normal mechanical stirring. OSIS can be used with a variety of disposable syringes ranging from 3 mL to 30 mL.	(see RSIC)	(see RSIC)	For VISION-250 or -500 models. Recommended for: - extremely delicate samples like adipocytes & cell clusters - samples that either float or sink with normal stirring - samples that benefit from disposable containers and tubing.
Max # of excitation lasers	3	4	4
# of fluorescence detection channels	3	3	4 or 8
Object size measurement (TOF)	yes	yes	yes
Extinction detector (EXT)	yes	yes	yes
Side-scatter (SS)	yes	yes	yes
Forward Scatter (FS)	no	no	yes
Instrument control, data acquisition and analysis software	FlowPilot^™ Software	FlowPilot^™ Software	FlowPilot^™ Software
Profiling	Yes with FlowPilot-Pro™ option	Yes with FlowPilot-Pro™ option	Yes with FlowPilot-Pro™ standard
Sorting and dispensing based on operator selectable parameters	up to 21 parameters with FlowPilot-Pro option	up to 21 parameters with FlowPilot-Pro option	up to 61 parameters with FlowPilot-Pro (8 PMT configuration)