FACSCanto II cytometer (BD)
The BD FACSCanto II system supports multicolor analysis of up to six fluorescent markers and two scatter parameters per assay.
The system consists of a benchtop flow cytometer, a selfcontained fluidics cart, and the BD FACSCanto II workstation.
Flow cytometry is a powerful technique for characterizing cells and quantifying aspects about their components. Samples of cells, usually stained with antibodies to cell-surface molecules, are injected into the cytometer. Once there, the cells are focused into a one-cell-wide beam by a fluidics setup consisting of a fast-moving sheath fluid flowing around the slower moving solution of cells. The beam of cells is directed to an observation area where two general methods are used to analyze each individual cell. First, light scattering techniques give information on the size and composition of each cell. The second detection technique relies on fluorescence; excitation sources within the cytometer excite fluorophores in probes attached to the cells and several detectors measure the resulting emitted photons.