How Flow Cytometry Works

One of the more exotic tests you may order on a particular blood or tissue sample is flow cytometry.  Fundamentally, this is an automated technique that enables one to rapidly determine what sort of cells you are dealing with.  You can get information, from flow cytometry, on a cell's size, granularity, surface markers and even internal constituents.

If you're remotely interested in how it works, but want to be spared all the details, check out this sample "problem" from Oregan State University.