Harmonization of cytometry instrumentation and technologies

Comparison of methods and TAT assessment: Volumetric AQUIOS CL and bead‐based FACS CANTO II cytometers

“…Therefore, the standardization by guidelines to report the cytometric results and the development of instruments more user-friendly and highly automated are very important (1) and could better fit with recommendations from various societies regarding the management of flow cytometry procedures (2)(3)(4)(5)(6). A number of technologies are now available for lymphocyte subpopulations analysis, with important differences in operating requirements with the cytometric report sometimes compromised by the individual approach of the operator.…”

“…A number of technologies are now available for lymphocyte subpopulations analysis, with important differences in operating requirements with the cytometric report sometimes compromised by the individual approach of the operator. Therefore, the standardization by guidelines to report the cytometric results and the development of instruments more user-friendly and highly automated are very important (1) and could better fit with recommendations from various societies regarding the management of flow cytometry procedures (2)(3)(4)(5)(6). In this study, we compared different flow cytometry-based methods to determine T, B and NK cell lymphocyte subsets by volumetric AQUIOS CL (Beckman Coulter) and bead-based FACS CANTO II (BD Biosciences) cytometers.…”

Evaluation of a novel automated volumetric flow cytometer for absolute CD4+ T lymphocyte quantitation

“…In the present study, we have assessed AQUIOS CL performances in accordance with standard necessary for clinical cytometry quality, in a context of ISO 15189 accreditation process (13)(14)(15)(16). We evaluated reproducibility and repeatability (precision), bias/trueness, uncertainty (total error), measurement range limits, interreagent and inter-sample contaminations in enumerating CD41 T cells.…”

“…The AQUIOS CL is a single platform, fully automated volumetric flow cytometry technology, with no need of beads to determine absolute cell count. Therefore, it could more easily comply with standardization requirements defined for ISO 15189 accreditation and thus may better fit with recommendations from various societies regarding the management of clinical flow cytometry quality procedures (13)(14)(15)(16). Overall, this novel technology may help in improving results standardization which remains a critical point for making clinical diagnostics comparable between different laboratories and for multicentric studies (17).…”

A year passed by. end of the year note

“…Perfetto and coworkers (this issue, page 1037) address the never-ending issue of harmonizing flow measurements between instruments and laboratories. Interestingly, this was also a focus of the end of the year issues in 2012 and 2013 (1,11). By determining key values, comparison is eased and calculation of panel performance may be simplified, particularly, when new technologies will be incorporated into the instruments.…”