Blood cell discriminator and counter utilizing transmitted and scattered light

Claim 1

A blood counter comprising a sheathed flow cell in which each particle of the cells of blood is flowed separately and succesively; a light source for radiating light on said sheathed flow cell, the light including light having the wavelengths for causing absorption of light by hemoglobin in the blood; a portion of said light being transmitted across said sheathed flow cell; a portion of said light being scattered from the sheathed flow cell, means for receiving transmitted light to detect the degree of absorption by hemoglobin from the light transmitted across said sheathed flow cell; means for receiving the scattered light to detect the intensity of the light scattered from the sheathed flow cell; a decision assembly for judging, based on the output signals detected by means for receiving the transmitted light and scattered light, (1) the flowing cells therein to be a red blood cell if the degree of absorption is larger than the preselected level and (11) the other material to be a blood platelet if the intensity of the scattered light is larger than a certain level and if the degree of absorption is smaller than said preselected level; and a counter assembly for counting out the red blood cells and blood platelets.