Dr. Paolo Cappella, of KRC partner Cytoflow Service, installing the Potomac at the Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment (IREA) at the National Research Council (CNR) in Naples, Italy. © 2020–2022 Cytoflow Service

Components on the Potomac secured for shipping. © 2020–2022 Cytoflow Service

The Potomac installed at the CNR featured KRC's Panama Flow Cytometry Software. © 2020–2022 Cytoflow Service

Giovanni Contini, of Cytoflow Service, delivering user training on the Potomac. © 2020–2022 Cytoflow Service

IREA-CNR staff learning to use the Potomac. © 2020–2022 Cytoflow Service

Dr. Romeo Bernini, Research Director at the IREA-CNR. © 2020–2022 Cytoflow Service

Giovanni Contini validating the Potomac performance during installation. © 2020–2022 Cytoflow Service

The Potomac obtained CE certification for sale in Europe. © 2020–2022 Cytoflow Service

The Panama software on the Potomac offers the user great flexibility with detection parameters. © 2020–2022 Cytoflow Service

Installation testing included running multi-peak bead kits. © 2020–2022 Cytoflow Service

The IREA-CNR user group includes biologists and physicists as well as environmental scientists. © 2020–2022 Cytoflow Service

Dr. Romeo Bernini with the installed Potomac. © 2020–2022 Cytoflow Service

Accessories of the Potomac being packed for shipment. © 2011–2022 Kinetic River Corp.

This shipment took place at the height of the first wave of the Covid pandemic in 2020, adding a layer of complexity to the process. © 2011–2022 Kinetic River Corp.

The Potomac underwent several layers of packing for protection during international shipping. © 2011–2022 Kinetic River Corp.

The first packing layer being applied. © 2011–2022 Kinetic River Corp.

The second packing layer. © 2011–2022 Kinetic River Corp.

Vacuum-sealing the entire instrument ensured stability and moisture protection. © 2011–2022 Kinetic River Corp.

Third packing layer. © 2011–2022 Kinetic River Corp.

The crate housed the instrument mainframe as well as monitors, fluid tanks, and other accessories. © 2011–2022 Kinetic River Corp.

The custom crate used for shipment. © 2011–2022 Kinetic River Corp.

Crating was executed on site. © 2011–2022 Kinetic River Corp.

Shock and tilt sensors were used to help prevent mishandling during shipment. © 2011–2022 Kinetic River Corp.

The assembled crate banded, clipped, and labeled. © 2011–2022 Kinetic River Corp.

Kinetic River's founder and president, Dr. Giacomo Vacca, with the finished crate ready for shipment. © 2011–2022 Kinetic River Corp.

Packing of the Potomac was a team effort. © 2011–2022 Kinetic River Corp.

The finished crate ready for loading. © 2011–2022 Kinetic River Corp.

Bon voyage! © 2011–2022 Kinetic River Corp.

Foundation of the Potomac optical bench--a honeycomb breadboard with custom cutouts. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

Alignment of the excitation arm is designed in by using a cage assembly. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

Optical components for beam shaping are mounted in the cage assembly brackets. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

Highly stable flexure mounts make for a very reproducible alignment process. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

The excitation arm is assembled as a standalone module. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

A cage architecture is used on the detection arm as well. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

Mounting of the detection arm to ensure mechanical stability and robust alignment. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

The detection arm fully assembled as a standalone module. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

The two main optical modules—excitation arm and detection arm—side by side before integration. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

Mounting of precision achromatic lenses to accommodate a wide range of excitation wavelengths. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

Preintegration of the excitation and detection modules. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

Assembly of a lens used in the detection arm. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

Coupling of excitation and detection arms. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

Integration of the microscope for continuous flowcell monitoring. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

Electrical power distribution. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

First light on the analyzer from the two laser sources. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

The "second-floor" optical bench is mounted above the "first floor," site of power, electronics, and fluidics. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

All the detectors on the Potomac are PMTs, giving superior sensitivity also for the scattering channels. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

Alignment of the laser beams in the excitation arm. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

Assembly of the optical components occurs according to a validated procedure. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

The lenses used on the Potomac are high-quality, precision optical components for maximum sensitivity. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

The nearly completed optical bench. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

The flowcell monitoring microscope provides indispensable information about beam alignment and core stream stability. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

The microscope is prealigned during assembly, giving the user the ability to remotely fine-tune the focus, without having to open up the instrument. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

The detector signals are amplified using two Tuolumne modules. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

This Potomac was built to accommodate an external 266-nm laser (see optical tube at left). © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

The Potomac undergoes extensive testing and verification during and after assembly. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

The Potomac incorporates the Shasta, a state-of-the-art fluidics control module. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.

Fully assembled Potomac running Panama software. © 2011–2021 Kinetic River Corp.