Spectral Flow Cytometry: The Current State and Future of the Technology

Flow cytometry is a powerful and widely used tool for the analysis of various cell populations, but its capabilities are severely limited by the need to apply correction of fluorescent signals from near or similar fluorochromes when analyzing multicolor panels. Spectral flow cytometry extends the capabilities of classical cytometry by reading the full fluorescence spectrum of fluorophores and their subsequent spectral separation. This significantly increases the number of markers analyzed in a single panel and thus allows for more in-depth studies of cell populations. In the age of big data analysis, this represents a serious advantage of spectral cytometry and can significantly increase its use in scientific and clinical practice. This review describes the principle of spectral cytometry, advantages and limitations of the method, and summarizes the newest deep immunophenotyping panels developed and validated for spectral cytometry.