What is Flow Cytometer?
The Flow Cytometer is a device that allows counting, evaluating and classifying microscopic particles suspended in a liquid medium, in flow, using laser technology. The Laboratory of Clinical Analysis Dr. Joaquim Chaves (Greater Lisbon) is equipped with FACSCanto™ II Flow Cytometer, with 3 lasers, an innovative digital equipment which allows the detection of 10 parameters (cell receptors/antigens – 'identity card of the cells under analysis') simultaneously, by sample, and which performs the automatic acquisition of 40 samples for each laboratory work session.
How it works
The Flow Cytometer physically separates subsets of cells based on certain criteria. The analysis is carried out as the cells or particles suspended in the fluid, individually, go through the beam of light emitted by the equipment.
Each particle reacts to the light beam differently, which causes different excitations of chemical reagents and antibodies. The resulting combination is picked up by detectors, which analyse brightness variations and interpret them in terms of physical and chemical structure. Thus, it is possible to obtain decisive cellular information, such as the shape of the nucleus, quantity and type of cytoplasmic formations, as well as the roughness of the membrane.
What flow cytometry protocols are used in identifying blood disorders?
Assistance in the diagnosis and monitoring by flow cytometry of hemato-oncological diseases (blood diseases) is carried out in the Laboratory of Clinical Analysis Dr. Joaquim Chaves (Greater Lisbon), based on the recommendations of the EuroFlow Consortium, a pioneer in the standardization and automation of procedures associated with these pathologies, thus being in line with what is practiced in European reference laboratories in flow cytometry.
Strict compliance with all standardized procedures opened the door to automating the analysis of blood cells or other biological products (for example: lymph nodes, bronchoalveolar lavages), using reference databases, which exist in the Infinicyt™ software, that accompanies our flow cytometer.
In this way, the Clinical Analysis Laboratory Dr. Joaquim Chaves, with the incorporation of all this technology, took an important step towards the automation and standardization of a procedure with a high importance in the diagnosis of blood diseases (for example, leukemias and lymphomas), which in the past was characterized by being very manual and based on operator experience.
Capabilities and benefits
Flow cytometry is a technique that allows physically separation of cells and, simultaneously, analyse several physical and chemical parameters of an isolated cell, which is utterly important for the diagnosis of hemato-oncological diseases (blood diseases) and in the characterization /monitoring of immunological diseases.
Flow Cytometer at Joaquim Chaves Saúde
With the ambition of having the future in our present and with the desire to go further in diagnosis, the Laboratory of Clinical Analysis Dr. Joaquim Chaves (Greater Lisbon) has a set of technological solutions for the most varied areas of flow cytometry, guided by rigor and quality and that can be useful regarding blood diseases, infectious diseases, endocrinology (infertility), among others.