COPAS Infinity
Software for COPAS Infinity
FlowPilot Software
Union Biometrica’s FlowPilot software was developed for all COPAS and BioSorter instruments with the demanding flow cytometry user in mind. Intuitive and easy-to-use, you don’t have to be a cytometry expert to begin using FlowPilot equipped instruments.
Customizable FlowPilot Desktop
The dynamic Flow Pilot desktop allows the user to easily access or hide: instrument control, data acquisition and dispensing panels based on personal preference. Users can define and manipulate multiple independent graphical and statistical displays of acquired data including multiple regions per plot, custom scaling and logical gating options. Retrievable experiment and sample template files as well as options included for data review (on instrument or offline) provide powerful tools for post-acquisition analysis.
The Sort Delay Setup tool aids the user in identifying and implementing the optimal conditions (timing) for accurate and efficient dispensing.
Customize Dispensing
Dispensing is not limited to standard multiwell receptacles. The user can create custom output receptacle templates with well-to-well dimensions as tight as 384 well standards. Each dispense location may be given a different combination of sort conditions, such as object number and gate region.
Configuration of auto-stop conditions, auto-cleaning and other maintenance functions as well as user notifications allow the researcher to walk away during instrument use. Flow Pilot incorporates additional integration features such as coupling it with the LP Sampler and robotic handlers for higher throughput processing of samples in multi-process workflow stations.
Profiler & FlowPilot-Pro™ Software
Like most flow cytometer software, the standard FlowPilot software provides a single integrated signal measurement for each parameter of an object and these signals are used for analysis and sorting decisions. Because most large objects are not homogeneous in fluorescence or optical density throughout, we created “Profiler” software to identify regional differences and include them for sample analysis and sorting.
Profiler™ takes data collection to the next level by simultaneously recording up to 8,000 data points per object for each of the six optical parameters: extinction, forward scatter, and four fluorescence channels. The software then graphically and numerically displays variations of those signals along the length of an object as a succession of peaks and valleys that directly trace the fluorescence intensity and optical density of the object as it passes through the flow cell. The result is an “optical profile” of each object graphically mapping the location and intensity of all six optical parameters plus determining values for peak height, peak width, peak count and relative position – all of which can be used as sort criteria.
Fig 7 – Profiler™ Software
Digitizes optical density and fluorescence patterns along the axial length of the object as it passes through the flow cell. Example: Profiling GFP-expressing seam cells in nematodes. (Courtesy of Appleford at the Woolard lab, U. of Oxford.)
Another profiling feature is Partial Profiling. By zeroing in on a specific region of the object, Partial Profiling allows you to strategically identify optical or fluorescence characteristics from that area alone. With Partial Profiling active, profile features (peak height, width or count) as well as integrated values over that limited portion are analyzed and graphed as their own customized parameter. Partial Profiling can be configured to analyze extinction and fluorescence measurements exclusively to the organism’s head, tail, middle, or end regions. For example, presence of green neurons in the head vs. red ovary information in the center regardless of any other green or red fluorescence within the animal.
Zebrafish Partial Profiles
Integration Package for COPAS Infinity
The Integration Package for COPAS Infinity is a software and hardware option designed for High Throughput Screening applications requiring handling of large number of objects to be sorted and large numbers of multiwell plates. The additional software enables the COPAS Infinity instrument to be controlled by a plate handler or by the “Master Scheduler” of an integrated High Throughput Screening System. The system can be configured to stop and notify an operator via email when attention is required.