FluoroFinder, LLC is developing the FluoroFinder Intellipanel builder, an innovative software system for theautomatic calculation of an optimal fluorochrome cytometry panel. Flow cytometry is a ubiquitous technique incell and molecular biology that is increasingly complex due to recent improvements in instrumental capabilities. It is common for researchers to design cytometry panels that incorporate more than 20-colors in a singleexperiment. To successfully design a multi-parameter cytometry panel, researchers must incorporate designbest practices to optimize fluorochrome excitation/emission spillover, optimize for fluorochrome brightnessthrough antigen density, and they must select antibodies from an extensive and diverse antibody market. Bothexperts and non-experts would benefit from an approach that automatically calculates an optimal panel basedon their instrumental configuration and experimental biomarkers. FluoroFinder has previously developed amanual panel builder that incorporates an extensive multi-supplier database that includes all commerciallyavailable instruments, all fluorochromes, and over 3 million antibodies to streamline all aspects of panel design.In this proposal, FluoroFinder will leverage these extensive databases to build the Intellipanel builder. TheIntellipanel builder will generate an optimal panel for a user's experiment by accounting for user specificexperimental configurations, employing user and experimental specific gating strategies, and quantitativelyminimizing fluorescent spillover. This is expected to significantly reduce the time to develop complex cytometrypanels and significantly reduce or potentially eliminate errors in design. This is also expected to reduce thebarrier to entry for non-expert researchers that are involved in flow cytometry. The goals of this Phase I proposalare to restructure databases and develop algorithms with the support of expert cytometrists to quantitativelycompare fluorochromes (Aim 1), demonstrate efficacy by surveying a panel of cytometry experts on Intellipanelgenerated panels (Aim 2), and develop an intuitive web application to support a streamlined user experience(Aim 3).
Public Health Relevance Statement: PROJECT NARRATIVE
There is a need to develop software approaches that simplify workflows in increasingly complex flow cytometry
experiments. In this project, FluoroFinder is developing an automated cytometry panel design tool that will
calculate an optimal fluorochrome combination based on a user's experimental instrument configurations and
biomarker inputs. Development of this system is expected to significantly reduce the time required to build
panels, reduce or potentially eliminate design errors, and lower the barrier to entry for successful development
of flow cytometry experiments.
Project Terms: | | | | |
