Flow cytometry is a standard laser-based technology that is used in the detection and measurement of physical and chemical characteristics of cells or particles in a heterogeneous fluid mixture. Flow Cytometry Instruments Components of Flow Cytometers The flow cytometer is comprised of three major components: Fluidics system: The system consists of sheath fluid and a laminar flow that narrows down the specimen core for the movement of cells in a single stream when they pass through the laser beam. Optical system: The optical system is composed of a laser, lenses, and collection optics (such as photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), involved in illuminating the sample stream passing through ... Flow cytometry is a technique that enables the measurement of properties of individual particles (cells) in a heterologous population. This allows researchers to phenotype each cell based on these properties and, in some cases, to sort cells into different subpopulations (fluorescence-activated cell sorting or FACS). In a flow cytometer, cells in suspension pass through a laser in a single file, which enables the measurement of particle size and granularity. Further phenotyping occurs by ... What is Flow cytometry? Flow cytometry is the measuring (metry) of cells (cyto) as they flow (cells in motion) past a detecting device. The technique of flow cytometry is used to evaluate cells for a number of functions, such as cell counting, phenotyping, cell cycle analysis, and viability.