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Flow Cytometry: A new Dimension
in Disease Diagnosis and Management.
Flow cytometry is the most practiced member of a family of
technologies known variously as automated, analytical, or
quantitative cytology. As the term implies, flow Cytometery is the
measurement (-metry) of cellular (cyto-) properties as they are
moving in a fluid stream (flow), past a stationary set of
detectors. Flow cytometry is the only technique capable of
quantitative measurements of multiple features of individual cells
in a rapid manner.
Flow cytometry is a means of measuring certain physical and
chemical characteristics of cells or particles as they travel in
suspension one by one past a sensing point. In one way, flow
cytometers can be considered to be specialized fluorescence
microscopes. One could measure physical characteristics such as
cell size, shape and internal complexity and, of course, any cell
component or function that can be detected by a fluorescent
compound can be examined.
It is a rapid method for measuring the fluorescence and light
scattering of individual cells in large numbers. By labeling the
cells with fluorescent molecules that bind with high specificity
to one particular cellular constituent, it is possible to measure
the contents of the constituent. Such a fluorescent tag may be
either a dye molecule with a high binding-specificity for the
particular component to be measured or a fluorescence-conjugated
antibody. The light scattering of the cells gives information on
their size and to some extent also on shape and structure.
This marvelous technical accomplishment is a convergence of
computer science, laser development, electronics, hydrodynamic
focusing and ink-jet technology, optics and light detection,
monoclonal antibodies, and DNA analysis. The flow cytometer is
capable of rapid, quantitative, multiparameter analysis of
heterogeneous cell populations on a cell-by-cell basis (single
cell analysis).
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