Evaluation of an easy and affordable flow cytometer for volumetric haematopoietic stem cell counting

Background. Accurate estimation of haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) counts by flow cytometry may be difficult in laboratories in which sophisticated equipment and staff with specific expertise are not available. Affordable flow cytometers that can perform basic functions may help to overcome these difficulties. In this study we compared HSC and leucocyte counts determined by volumetric and bead-based protocols performed with the small, low-cost Accuri® C6, with those obtained with two gold-standard instruments, the four-colour FACSCalibur® and the eight-colour FACSCantoII®, our reference flow cytometers. Materials and methods. With the three cytometers we tested, in parallel, 111 consecutive samples from cord blood, peripheral blood from patients with myelofibrosis and myeloproliferative syndromes, fresh and thawed HSC collected by apheresis and bone marrow products. The findings were compared with one-way ANOVA, Bland-Altman analysis and linear regression. Results. The results of HSC and leucocyte enumeration by the three devices were strongly correlated (r²>0.99; p