A flow cytometer is similar to a microscope, except that, instead of producing an image of the cell, flow cytometry offers high-throughput, automated quantification of specified optical parameters on a cell-by-cell basis. Modern flow cytometers are able to analyze many thousands of particles per second, in "real time" and, if configured as cell sorters, can actively separate and isolate particles with specified optical properties at similar rates.
Schematic diagram of a flow cytometer, from sheath focusing to data acquisition. At the 5th American Engineering Foundation Conference on Automated Cytology in Pensacola (Florida) in 1976 - eight years after the introduction of the first fluorescence-based flow cytometer (1968) - it was agreed to commonly use the name "flow cytometry", a term that quickly became popular. The original name of the fluorescence-based flow cytometry technology was "pulse cytophotometry" ( German: Impulszytophotometrie), based on the first patent application on fluorescence-based flow cytometry. The first label-free high-frequency impedance flow cytometer based on a patented microfluidic "lab-on-chip", Ampha Z30, was introduced by Amphasys (2012). (later: Ortho Diagnostics), the PAS 8000 (1973) from Partec, the first FACS (fluorescence-activated cell sorting) instrument from Becton Dickinson (1974), the ICP 22 (1975) from Partec/Phywe and the Epics from Coulter (1977/78). Soon after, flow cytometry instruments were developed, including the Cytofluorograph (1971) from Bio/Physics Systems Inc. At that time, absorption methods were still widely favored by other scientists over fluorescence methods. The first fluorescence-based flow cytometry device (ICP 11) was developed in 1968 by Wolfgang Göhde from the University of Münster, filed for patent on 18 December 1968 and first commercialized in 1968/69 by German developer and manufacturer Partec through Phywe AG in Göttingen. Fulwyler developed this in 1965 with his publication in Science. Mack Fulwyler was the inventor of the forerunner to today's flow cytometers - particularly the cell sorter. The first impedance-based flow cytometry device, using the Coulter principle, was disclosed in U.S. Other instruments using flow cytometry include cell sorters which physically separate and thereby purify cells of interest based on their optical properties.įor more historic details, see cytometry. Diagnosis of health disorders such as blood cancersĪ flow cytometry analyzer is an instrument that provides quantifiable data from a sample.Determining cell characteristics and function.įlow cytometry is routinely used in basic research, clinical practice, and clinical trials. Tens of thousands of cells can be quickly examined and the data gathered are processed by a computer. Cells are often labeled with fluorescent markers so light is absorbed and then emitted in a band of wavelengths. The sample is focused to ideally flow one cell at a time through a laser beam, where the light scattered is characteristic to the cells and their components. In this process, a sample containing cells or particles is suspended in a fluid and injected into the flow cytometer instrument. Flow cytometry (FC) is a technique used to detect and measure physical and chemical characteristics of a population of cells or particles.
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