#Spectral flow cytometry full#

Using traditional cytometers, it was never recommended to design panels including fluorchromes such as PerCP and PerCP-efluor710 simultaneously for example because of high spillover and because of the resulting difficulty in distinguishing one signal from the other.

#Spectral flow cytometry full#

In other words, full spectrum cytometers exploit the inherent emission pattern of each fluorochrome to generate a unique spectral signature that can be unmixed from other ones using unmixing algorithms. The full fluorescent spectrum of each fluorochrome is thus collected, recorded and recognized as a spectral signature that can be differentiated from others. Rather than having a specific bandpass optical filter for the detection of every fluorochrome in or around its peak region, spectral flow cytometers optically capture the full emission of every fluorochrome using a large set of detectors across a wide wavelength range (from 300nm to 900nm for example). The fluidics systems are essentially very similar but spectral cytometers have a more elaborate optical setup. Spectral flow cytometers are relatively similar to conventional ones. The advent of spectral flow cytometry over the past 5 years has been a breakthrough in the evolution of flow cytometry: Instruments such as the Cytek Auroras or the Sony IDs now allow for the phenotyping of more than 40 or 50 cell parameters simultaneously. Until about 2015, traditional flow cytometers were able to measure as many as 20 or 25 different parameters simultaneously. Like other technologies, flow cytometry has been evolving to enable researchers and scientists to get more for less: In this case to get more cell information from less material, which is key in investigating precious clinical samples for example.