A flow cytometer is a laboratory instrument used to rapidly analyze the physical and chemical properties of individual cells or other microscopic particles as they are carried in a fast-moving fluid stream past one or more laser beams, measuring the way each particle scatters light and, when the particles are labeled with fluorescent markers, the fluorescent light each one emits, allowing thousands of individual cells to be characterized and sorted every second. The technique originated in the 1950s and 1960s, with early instruments developed by researchers including Wolfgang Gohde and, in the United States, teams at Los Alamos National Laboratory and Stanford University, whose work through the 1960s and 1970s established both the fluorescence-based measurement principle and the ability to physically sort cells based on it. Flow cytometry is now a foundational technology in immunology, hematology, cancer research and microbiology, used routinely to count and classify cell populations, for example in diagnosing blood disorders and monitoring immune cell counts in conditions such as HIV infection.
Facts
Invented YearSourced to the subject's own account MeasuresSourced to the subject's own accountPhysical and chemical characteristics of individual cells or particles in a fluid sample, examined one cell at a time. 1 Operating PrincipleSourced to the subject's own accountCells suspended in fluid are focused to pass one at a time through a laser beam; the scattered and emitted light is characteristic of each cell and its components. 1 Operating RangeSourced to the subject's own accountCommon light sources span roughly 488 to 633 nanometers (argon and helium-neon lasers) alongside mercury and xenon lamps, detected as optical or impedance signals. 1 Classification
Instrument ClassSourced to the subject's own account Connections
Used In
Immunology, Disciplines Flow cytometry counts and sorts individual cells by fluorescent-marker profile, the standard instrument for immune-cell phenotyping in immunology.
Sources
1. Flow Cytometry (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHistory section
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.
Lead section, opening sentence
Flow cytometry (FC) is a technique used to detect and measure the physical and chemical characteristics of a population of cells or particles.
Lead section
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.
Instrumentation section
The measuring system commonly uses measurement of impedance (or conductivity) and optical systems, lamps (mercury, xenon); high-power water-cooled lasers (argon, krypton, dye laser); low-power air-cooled lasers (argon (488 nm), red-HeNe (633 nm), green-HeNe, HeCd (UV)); diode lasers (blue, green, red, violet) resulting in light signals.
Lede, instrument class
A flow cytometer is a laboratory instrument used to rapidly analyze the physical and chemical properties of individual cells or other microscopic particles as they are carried in a fast-moving fluid stream past one or more laser beams, measuring the way each particle scatters light and, when the particles are labeled with fluorescent markers, the fluorescent light each one emits, allowing thousands of individual cells to be characterized and sorted every second.
View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.