The ability to measure accurately and sensitively different aspects of immunological function is an important part of both experimental and clinical immunology (see Chapter 44). Some of the most commonly used techniques in the immunological laboratory (immunological assays) are shown in the figure. Some techniques, such as the differential blood count, have hardly changed in over a hundred years. Others, such as flow cytometry and the PCR continue to evolve at a rapid rate as new technologies are developed. In all cases, clinical laboratories are making increased use of robotics and sophisticated computational analysis to automate all aspects of the process, to make it faster, cheaper and more reliable. The ability to integrate many different measurements (immunological, haematological, psychological, genetic, etc.) taken from each patient rapidly and reliably is also driving the development of ‘personalized medicine’, where doctors will be increasingly able to tailor each treatment precisely to match the needs of individual patients.
Flow Cytometry
(Fig. 45.1–45.3) is one of the most powerful techniques in the immunologist’s repertoire. Cells are sucked into a fine jet of liquid so that they pass rapidly across a beam of one or, in more sophisticated machines, several lasers. Cells scatter the incoming beam of light by refraction and reflection. Light scattered through a small angle is called ‘forward scatter’ and is proportional to the size of the cells. Light scattered through a 90° angle is called ‘side scatter’ and depends on the granularity of the cell; e.g. a granulocyte has a much larger side scatter than a lymphocyte (see Fig. 45.1).
Related posts:
Stay updated, free articles. Join our Telegram channel
Full access? Get Clinical Tree
