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Flow cytometry: retrospective, fundamentals and recent instrumentation

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Abstract

Flow cytometry is a complete technology given to biologists to study cellular populations with high precision. This technology elegantly combines sample dimension, data acquisition speed, precision and measurement multiplicity. Beyond the statistical aspect, flow cytometry offers the possibility to physically separate sub-populations. These performances come from the common endeavor of physicists, biophysicists, biologists and computer engineers, who succeeded, by providing new concepts, to bring flow cytometry to current maturity. The aim of this paper is to present a complete retrospective of the technique and remind flow cytometry fundamentals before focusing on recent commercial instrumentation.

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Conflict of interests

The authors state that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut National de la Transfusion Sanguine, 75739, Paris Cedex 15, France

    Julien Picot & Caroline Le Van Kim

  2. INSERM, U665, 75739, Paris, France

    Julien Picot & Caroline Le Van Kim

  3. University Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France

    Julien Picot & Caroline Le Van Kim

  4. University Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 75006, Paris, France

    Coralie L. Guerin & Chantal M. Boulanger

  5. PARCC INSERM UMR970, 75737, Paris, France

    Coralie L. Guerin & Chantal M. Boulanger

  6. Hematology Department and INSERM U765, Paris Descartes University, Paris, France

    Coralie L. Guerin

  7. European Georges Pompidou Hospital Paris, Paris, France

    Coralie L. Guerin

Authors
  1. Julien Picot
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  2. Coralie L. Guerin
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  3. Caroline Le Van Kim
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  4. Chantal M. Boulanger
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Julien Picot.

Additional information

Julien Picot and Coralie L. Guerin contributed equally to this work.

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Picot, J., Guerin, C.L., Le Van Kim, C. et al. Flow cytometry: retrospective, fundamentals and recent instrumentation. Cytotechnology 64, 109–130 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-011-9415-0

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