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Updated: Sep 22, 2025

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Sample Preparation for Mass Cytometry Analysis
Published on: April 29, 2017
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Full spectrum flow cytometry and mass cytometry: A 32-marker panel comparison
Maria C Jaimes1, Michael Leipold2, Geoffrey Kraker3
1Applications, Cytek Biosciences, Inc, Fremont, California, USA.
Summary
Full spectrum flow cytometry (FSFC) offers a powerful alternative to mass cytometry (MC) for high-dimensional immune monitoring. This study demonstrates highly comparable results between FSFC and MC using a 32-marker immune panel.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Biotechnology
- Single-cell analysis
Background:
- High-dimensional single-cell data is crucial for understanding immune system complexity in health and disease.
- Mass cytometry (MC) has been the primary technology for assays exceeding 29 markers.
- Full spectrum flow cytometry (FSFC) now enables analysis beyond the traditional fluorescence limits.
Purpose of the Study:
- To directly compare the performance of MC and FSFC platforms.
- To evaluate the comparability of results using an established 32-marker immune panel.
- To assess the utility of FSFC in immune subpopulation identification.
Main Methods:
- Comparison of five patient samples using both MC and FSFC.
- Utilized an established 32-marker immune panel from the Stanford Human Immune Monitoring Center (HIMC).
- Employed split samples and identical antibody panels for direct technology comparison.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated highly comparable results between MC and FSFC across multiple data analysis approaches.
- Confirmed the ability of both platforms to identify all expected immune subpopulations with the 32-marker panel.
- Validated FSFC as a viable alternative to MC for complex immune monitoring.
Conclusions:
- FSFC provides comparable performance to MC for high-dimensional immune monitoring.
- FSFC expands the possibilities for cytometric assays beyond 29 parameters.
- This comparison supports the adoption of FSFC for detailed immune cell analysis.

