Flow Cytometer Calibration and Characterization

The Presenters

John Nolan, PhD
Professor
Scintillon Institute

James Wood, PhD
Associate Professor
Wake Forest School of Medicine

David Parks
Director Emeritus Emeritus
Full Spectrum FACS Wizard
Technical Support
Standford University

Session Summary

I. Overview and Objectives

• Why calibrate? Why characterize?
• Types of calibrators and standards.

II.   Calibration of the Fluorescence Intensity Scale

• Photoelectrons.
• Fluorophores: MESFs and ERFs.
• Molecules: Antibodies and ligands.

III.  Characterization of Instrument Performance

• Definitions of detection limit.
• Measuring detection efficiency (Q) and background (B).
• Limit of resolution/detection.

IV.  Practical Applications

• Instrument evaluation and comparison.
• Routine QC and SRL best practices.
• Implications for polychromatic panel design.
• Measurement of small, dim particles.

CMLE Credit: 1.5