Pinkel D, Steen H B
Cytometry. 1982 Nov;3(3):220-3. doi: 10.1002/cyto.990030313.
Knowledge of the sensitivity of a flow cytometer is important both in choosing an instrument for a particular application and in determining whether the resolution obtained on real samples is limited by instrumental factors or sample variability. The coefficient of variation (CV) obtained for measurement is given by CV2 = CVS2 + CVI2 + 1/n + K(delta VB2)/n2, where CVS is the variability due to the sample, CVI that due to variations in illumination of the sample particles, n the number of photoelectrons emitted from the photomultiplier photo cathode per sample particle (which is the signal intensity), delta VB2 the mean square background noise voltage (usually due to background illumination), and K a constant. Measurement of the CV of light flashes from a light emitting diode as a function of their intensity allows development of standard curves which can be used to directly determine the degree to which the resolution obtained on actual samples is limited by signal intensity and background light. The use of standard particles allows relative calibration of the curves for different instruments and which also ranks their sensitivities.
了解流式细胞仪的灵敏度对于为特定应用选择仪器以及确定在实际样本上获得的分辨率是受仪器因素限制还是样本变异性限制都很重要。测量得到的变异系数（CV）由CV2 = CVS2 + CVI2 + 1/n + K(δVB2)/n2给出，其中CVS是样本引起的变异性，CVI是样本颗粒照明变化引起的变异性，n是每个样本颗粒从光电倍增管光电阴极发射的光电子数（即信号强度），δVB2是均方背景噪声电压（通常由于背景照明），K是一个常数。测量发光二极管发出的光脉冲的CV作为其强度的函数，可以绘制标准曲线，这些曲线可用于直接确定在实际样本上获得的分辨率受信号强度和背景光限制的程度。使用标准颗粒可以对不同仪器的曲线进行相对校准，还可以对它们的灵敏度进行排名。
