Using our Instruments
Using our Instruments
Here are a few guidelines for support using our instruments.
The points below give you tips for using our instruments. If you have any other questions, please contact us.
Setting up a new experiment
Setting up a new experimentWhat you'll need to bring with you depends on how complex the experiment is. Simply speaking, you'll need:
- unstained cells
- single antibody stained cells
- single stained compensation beads (if your panel requires compensation)
- unstained/negative compensation beads
- fully stained 'experimental' cells
Number of events
Number of eventsThe number of events you need to acquire and record depends on:
- how rare your population of interest is
- the amount of debris in your sample
- the number of of dead/dying cells in your sample
'All Events'
Your cells will be recorded as 'All Events' as you leave the stopping gate if they are:
- rare cell populations
- large amounts of debris
- large amounts of dead or dying cells
To get an accurate number of cells of interest recorded, make sure to change your stopping gate to the population of interest.
Flow rates
Flow ratesThere are low medium and high flow rates.
The higher the flow rate, the faster your cells will run through the instrument.
You need to take care. Running the instrument on higher flow rates increases the spread of your populations. This can mask subtle shifts in fluorescence otherwise visible on lower flow rates.
Best practice is to pick a flow rate and be consistent between all samples.
Data and experiment storage
Data and experiment storageAt the start of a new calendar month all data is backed up. Experiments are removed from your user profile.
To find your experiments look in the R drive before you come to the instrument. Locate them by instrument configuration, year, month, experiments, and user name.
Alternatively a copy is held locally on each instrument's D: drive.