The role of flow cytometry in improving biocompatibility in transfusion medicine

In transfusion medicine, blood and blood components, donors and patients are increasingly confronted with biomaterials. The need to understand the response of human blood to contact with these artificial surfaces has led to multiple studies on the biocompatibility of biomaterials. Up to this time, these investigations have predominantly been performed using physical, immunological and biochemical methods. Many of these approaches are useful in investigating the multiple factors involved in blood-biomaterial interactions. However, they always reflect the overall behaviour of whole cellular populations in local or systemic reactions. The application of multiparameter flow cytometry, on the other hand, provides insight into antigenic expression and changes at the single-cell level. Therefore, the technique of flow cytometry represents a new and powerful way of analysing and improving the biocompatibility of these materials in blood-contacting applications in this field.