Technology trends in flowcytometry – Combination flowcytometry
Flowcytometry (FCM) is an excellent technology to detect a large number of parameters on a single cell, examining large number of cells, in a short time, on a miniscule quantity of sample. However, its widespread use has been precluded by drawbacks like labor-intensive data analysis, operator-dependent interpretation of results, and bulky equipment.
To overcome these drawbacks, FCM is being combined with other technologies to get the best of both, in one equipment.
The biggest game changer will be the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in FCM. AI seems to be the ideal solution to save time, labor, and give objective results. FCM captures vast amount of data but when analyzed manually, only a few features are selected for further analysis, losing other useful data. AI can give meaning to the vast data acquired by FCM.
Image flowcytometry (IFC) combines the imaging data of immune-fluorescence with the high-throughput quantitative data of FCM, and helps in localization of the marker within the cell. Introduction of deep neural networks in AI can revolutionize IFC. The large number of single-cell images, obtained through IFC, can be used to train the networks to rapidly identify cells, and diagnose common disorders/identify rare cells and bring it out from research to clinical diagnostics.
Imaging cell-sorter flowcytometry can accelerate drug discovery in pharmaceutical field as only events of interest are collected (instead of getting lost in the vast data) to be analyzed further.
Mass cytometry combines FCM with mass spectrometry. It uses elemental metal isotopes, conjugated to monoclonal antibodies, to evaluate around 50 parameters simultaneously on individual cells with minimal overlap between channels.
Combination of flowcytometry with immunomagnetic separation detects microbial contaminants in food samples. This may be extended to clinical samples to give rapid results overcoming the shortcomings of traditional cultures.
Spectral analyzers are the next generation of multicolor flow cytometers, with unparalleled sensitivity and detection range. These are extremely useful for separating labels with narrow-emission spectra.
Flowcytometry-on-a-chip would be the dream come true owing to its low manufacturing cost, drastic reduction in the size of the flow cytometer, and bringing flowcytometry to the bedside for point-of-care diagnosis.
With rapid amalgamation of various other technologies, FCM has the potential to be the best clinical tool for diagnosis and monitoring of diseases.
