Flow cytometry

Flow cytometry
	A flow cytometer with sample injection tube.
Classification	Cytometry
Analytes	Cells or particles
Other techniques
Related	Coulter counter

Flow cytometry (FC) is a technique used to detect and measure the physical and chemical characteristics of a population of cells or particles.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

In this process, a sample containing cells or particles is suspended in a fluid and injected into the flow cytometer instrument. 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. Cells are often labeled with fluorescent markers so light is absorbed and then emitted in a band of wavelengths. Tens of thousands of cells can be quickly examined and the data gathered are processed by a computer.^[5]

Flow cytometry is routinely used in basic research, clinical practice, and clinical trials. Uses for flow cytometry include:

Cell counting
Cell sorting
Determining cell characteristics and function
Detecting microorganisms
Biomarker detection
Protein engineering detection
Diagnosis of health disorders such as blood cancers
Measuring genome size

A flow cytometry analyzer is an instrument that provides quantifiable data from a sample. Other instruments using flow cytometry include cell sorters which physically separate and thereby purify cells of interest based on their optical properties.

^ Picot J, Guerin CL, Le Van Kim C, Boulanger CM (March 2012). "Flow cytometry: retrospective, fundamentals and recent instrumentation". Cytotechnology. 64 (2): 109–30. doi:10.1007/s10616-011-9415-0. PMC 3279584. PMID 22271369.
^ "flow cytometry". TheFreeDictionary.com. Retrieved 2018-09-18.
^ Shapiro HM (2003). Practical flow cytometry (4th ed.). New York: Wiley-Liss. ISBN 978-0-471-41125-3.
^ Givan AL (2011). "Flow Cytometry: An Introduction". In Hawley T, Hawley R (eds.). Flow Cytometry Protocols. Methods in Molecular Biology. Vol. 699. Humana Press. pp. 1–29. doi:10.1007/978-1-61737-950-5_1. ISBN 978-1-61737-949-9. PMID 21116976.
^ O'Neill K, Aghaeepour N, Spidlen J, Brinkman R (December 2013). "Flow cytometry bioinformatics". PLOS Comput Biol. 9 (12): e1003365. Bibcode:2013PLSCB...9E3365O. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003365. PMC 3867282. PMID 24363631.

[1] Picot J, Guerin CL, Le Van Kim C, Boulanger CM (March 2012). "Flow cytometry: retrospective, fundamentals and recent instrumentation". Cytotechnology. 64 (2): 109–30. doi:10.1007/s10616-011-9415-0. PMC 3279584. PMID 22271369.

[2] "flow cytometry". TheFreeDictionary.com. Retrieved 2018-09-18.

[3] Shapiro HM (2003). Practical flow cytometry (4th ed.). New York: Wiley-Liss. ISBN 978-0-471-41125-3.

[4] Givan AL (2011). "Flow Cytometry: An Introduction". In Hawley T, Hawley R (eds.). Flow Cytometry Protocols. Methods in Molecular Biology. Vol. 699. Humana Press. pp. 1–29. doi:10.1007/978-1-61737-950-5_1. ISBN 978-1-61737-949-9. PMID 21116976.

[5] O'Neill K, Aghaeepour N, Spidlen J, Brinkman R (December 2013). "Flow cytometry bioinformatics". PLOS Comput Biol. 9 (12): e1003365. Bibcode:2013PLSCB...9E3365O. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003365. PMC 3867282. PMID 24363631.

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