Joseph Coulter; Medical Equipment Manufacturer

Joseph Coulter, 71, a major manufacturer of medical analysis equipment and diagnostic instruments. With his brother Wallace, Coulter co-founded Coulter Corp. in a Chicago basement in 1952 and became president and chief executive officer. The company streamlined clinical diagnostics and medical research by producing the first commercial blood-cell counter and particle analyzer. The automated, electronic system replaced the previous tedious and unreliable method. A native of Poplar Bluff, Mo., Coulter was educated at the Illinois Institute of Technology and began his career with Motorola Corp. In recent years, he founded Coulter Pharmaceutical Inc., which specialized in cancer and AIDS research. On Monday in Miami of prostate cancer.