Introduction to the Field of Cytometry and its Importance in Biomedicine

Flow cytometry is a methodology for determining and quantitating cellular features, organelles or cell structural components primarily by both optical and electronic means. Although it measures one cell at a time, the newest equipment is able to process up to several hundred thousand cells in a few seconds. Flow cytometry can be used to count and even distinguish cells of different types in a mixture by quantitating their structural features. Therefore, flow cytometry has great advantages compared to traditional microscopy since it permits the analysis of a greater number of cells in a fraction of the time. In addition cell sorting with flow cytometers has been a powerful tool for diverse fields in biomedical research and clinical applications.