Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 19, 2026
Quality Control
Quality Control of Immunophenotyping
1Hematopathology/Flow Cytometry, Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA. bruce.greig@vumc.org.
Insights
Quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) are essential for accurate flow cytometry and immunophenotyping. Implementing best practices ensures reliable diagnostic and research results by monitoring instruments, reagents, and testing phases.
Area of Science:
- Clinical Laboratory Science
- Biotechnology
- Immunology
Background:
- Flow cytometry and immunophenotyping are critical for disease diagnosis and monitoring.
- Accurate results depend on rigorous instrument and methodology oversight.
- Standardized quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) are vital for reliable data.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe procedures for assessing quality control in flow cytometry and immunophenotyping.
- To emphasize the importance of QC/QA across all testing phases (preanalytic, analytic, postanalytic).
- To ensure consistent and dependable results for clinical and research applications.
Main Methods:
- Implementing daily and ongoing monitoring of flow cytometry instruments and methodologies.
- Establishing robust quality control (QC) procedures for instrument performance, reagents, and results.
- Documenting corrective actions when QC results fall outside acceptable ranges.
Main Results:
- Detailed procedures for assessing quality control in flow cytometry and immunophenotyping are presented.
- Emphasis on the integration of QC/QA into preanalytic, analytic, and postanalytic testing phases.
- Framework for ensuring consistent and accurate data generation.
Conclusions:
- Adherence to best practices in QC and QA is fundamental for reliable immunophenotyping via flow cytometry.
- Systematic monitoring and documentation are key to maintaining high-quality diagnostic and research outcomes.
- Comprehensive QA ensures the integrity of the entire testing process.
Abstract:
Applications of immunophenotyping using flow cytometry offer precise and accurate means for providing information used to both diagnose and monitor disease; they serve as a standard platform for many research endeavors that study discrete populations of biological entities. The proper use of this highly sophisticated technology requires daily and ongoing monitoring of both the instrument and the methodology. Best practices for this begin with quality control (QC) procedures designed to set up and monitor the instrument performance, the reagents, and the results to ensure that they are working properly both on the day of use and over time. If the results of those QC procedures are outside of acceptable then recording the corrective action taken must also be included in the quality control records. Quality assurance (QA) is a way to know that the three phases of testing, namely, preanalytic, analytic, and postanalytic procedures, are being followed. This chapter describes the procedures used to assess quality control as it pertains to flow cytometry and immunophenotyping in all three phases of testing.
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