LIFE SCIENCES, ANALYTICAL & MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES
Equipment Applications for Flow Cytometry
Principle & OEM Spectroscopy Components
Extensive work and new developments in Immunology or Oncology require a thorough analysis and understanding of cell populations and characteristics. Flow cytometry is an essential tool to assist scientists in their research.
What is Flow Cytometry?
Flow cytometry is an analytical technique for the sorting, counting, detection and classification of cells.
Cells are tagged with specific fluorescent reagents (expression proteins, conjugated antibodies, binding dyes, etc…) and pass through a capillary in a sheath fluid onto which one, or more, excitation lasers are focused.
The resulting Visible Emission Fluorescence is collected by a multichannel detection system consisting of highly sensitive sensors, collecting up to more than 30 detectable parameters.
Spectral Engines for Flow Cytometry
Weak VIS Fluorescence signals, resulting from the excitation of one or multiple laser sources of different fluorescent reagents, are detected by highly sensitive sensors such as PMTs or APDs.
While combinations of dichroic and bandpass filters have been the traditional layout of flow cytometers, new designs now incorporate spectrometers with linear arrays of PMTs or MPPCs in order to collect the complete spectral information.
The design of these new “spectral” flow cytometers requires a complete understanding of the critical requirements at stake, such as throughput, stray light rejection and stability.
