Multinode Acoustic Focusing for Parallel Flow Cytometry

Flow cytometry can simultaneously measure and analyze multiple properties of single cells or particles with high sensitivity and precision. Yet, conventional flow cytometers have fundamental limitations with regards to analyzing particles larger than about 70 mu m, analyzing at flow rates greater than a few hundred microliters per minute, and providing analysis rates greater than 50 000 per second. To overcome these limits, we have developed multinode acoustic focusing flow cells that can position particles (as small as a red blood cell and as large as 107 mu m in diameter) into as many as 37 parallel flow streams. We demonstrate the potential of such flow cells for the development of high throughput, parallel flow cytometers by precision focusing of flow cytometry alignment microspheres, red blood cells, and the analysis of a CD4+ cellular immunophenotyping assay. This approach will have significant impact toward the creation of high throughput flow cytometers for rare cell detection applications (e.g., circulating tumor cells), applications requiring large particle analysis, and high volume flow cytometry.