Flow cytometry. From research to clinical laboratory applications.

Flow cytometry is a technology that has made a successful transition from the research laboratory to the clinical laboratory. There are numerous clinical applications of flow cytometry. In hematology, the major applications have been in leukocyte phenotyping for the diagnosis and classification of leukemias and lymphomas and enumeration of peripheral blood lymphocytes in immune disorders. Applications in the phenotyping and functional characterization of hematopoietic and lymphoid cells such as erythroid cells, including reticulocytes, platelets and megakaryocytes, monocytes/macrophages, and granulocytes, are likely to increase and demonstrate additional diagnostic and prognostic clinical utility.