FLOW CYTOMETRY

Flow Cytometry is now available for investigation and further work-up of leukaemias.
Flow cytometry technology simultaneously measures and then analyses multiple physical characteristics of single particles (cells) as they flow in a fluid stream  through a beam of light.  The properties measured include a particle's relative size, relative granularity or internal complexity and relative fluroescence intensity.  A major medical application of flow cytometry is immunophenotyping leukaemias with a panel of fluroescently labelled antibodies to assess expression of cell markers, specifically to assist with definitive identification of neoplastic WBC populations as well as differentiating between reactive and neoplastic WBC populations.