Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Editorial
. 2022 Jan;101(1):8-11.
doi: 10.1002/cyto.a.24505. Epub 2021 Oct 6.

The Coulter Principle: A history

Marshall Don Graham  1
Affiliations
Free article
Editorial

The Coulter Principle: A history

Marshall Don Graham. Cytometry A. 2022 Jan.
Free article

Abstract

A historical description of Wallace H. Coulter's invention and development of his companies' instrumentation for analysis of blood cells or particles has never been available, and too often, this void has been addressed by conjectural or promotional publications. A history thesis, based on the author's access to Coulter's personal papers and to files kept by his father, Joseph R. Coulter, Sr., has recently become available; for the first time Coulter's developmental process is factually detailed against the historical context in which it occurred. This paper is an introductory overview of that developmental process as discussed therein. It should be of interest to not only the ISAC membership, but to Cytometry's broader readership as well.

Keywords: Coulter Counter©; Coulter Principle; Wallace Coulter; blood-cell counting; hematology analyzers.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Graham MD. The Coulter Principle: imaginary origins. Cytometry A. 2013;83A:1057-61.
    1. Coulter WH. High speed automatic blood cell counter and cell size analyzer. In: Proceedings of the National Electronics Conference, Vol. 12. Chicago: National Electronics Conference, Inc.; 1957, p. 1034-40. Reprinted in: Lichtman MA, editor. Hematology landmark papers of the twentieth century. San Diego: Academic Press; 2000. p. 913-21.
    1. Graham MD. The Coulter Principle: the Arkansas background. Arkansas Hist Quart. 2014;73:164-91.
    1. The International Society for Analytical Cytology later became the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry (also ISAC). Dean PN. SAC charter members. List dated July 28, 1978. Dean PN. A history of the International Society for Analytical Cytology. Cytometry A. 1996;24:301, 306 and Cytometry A. 2004;58A:4, 5, and 8.
    1. Graham M. The Coulter Principle: for the good of humankind 2020. Theses and dissertations-history. 62. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/history_etds/62. Brewer NW of the IEEE History Center has now edited this and archived it on the ETHW. https://ethw.org/Archives:The_Coulter_Principle:_For_the_Good_of_Humankind.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources