Appendix A: Technical Overview 115
Figure A-8 Bandpass filter
Detectors
Detectors convert light signals into electrical signals that can be processed by the
electronics system and a computer and then displayed on a plot.
There are two types of signal detectors in the BD FACSCanto flow cytometer: the
photodiode and the photomultiplier tube (PMT). The photodiode is used to
detect the stronger FSC signal (generated by light from the blue laser). The more
sensitive PMTs are used to detect the weaker signals generated by SSC and all
fluorescence channels.
In BD FACSCanto clinical software, the fluorochromes are preset.
In BD FACSDiva software, you can use the Cytometer Configuration window to
specify the fluorochrome that will be measured at each PMT detector. You can
also add additional parameters to your configuration and choose the appropriate
fluorochrome within your software experiment.
Detector Arrays
On BD FACSCanto flow cytometers, PMTs are organized onto an octagon and a
trigon. The octagon has five PMTs. The trigon has two PMTs. These arrays
% transmission
wavelength (nm)
bandpass
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