Luminex FLEXMAP 3D Hardware User Manual - Manual (Page 22)

This chapter reviews the technical aspects of theLuminex ® FLEXMAP 3D ® system: operation,
system components, subsystems, recommended additional equipment, and specifications.
How the FLEXMAP 3D System Operates
The Luminex ® FLEXMAP 3D ® system, in combination with xMAP ® (Multi-Analyte Profiling)
technology, will simultaneously measure up to 500 analytes from a single sample. xMAP
technology incorporates microspheres, proprietary dyeing processes, flow cytometry based
fluidics, lasers, the latest in high-speed digital signal and advanced computer algorithms,
enabling a multi-analyte detection system that demonstrates excellent sensitivity and
specificity.
An established proprietary process created by Luminex to internally dye same-size
polystyrene microspheres with multiple fluorophores facilitates the creation of five hundred
distinguishable microspheres when these fluorophores are combined in varying
concentrations. The microspheres, discriminated by color, are excited by two lasers in the
FLEXMAP 3D instrument. The resulting emission is detected by avalanche photo diodes
(APDs) in three classification channels (CL1, CL2, and CL3) that is then further analyzed
using a separate APD in a doublet discriminator (DD) channel, which measures bead size
through side-scatter.
Analytes are bound to xMAP microspheres using the same surface chemistry used with
earlier Luminex instruments (LX100/200). Reporters, tagged with fluorescent labels excited at
a different wavelength than the internal dyes, bind to the analyte of interest and are detected
by a photomultiplier tube (PMT) in a reporter channel (RP1), allowing for quantitative
analysis. As the microspheres in a fluid stream pass rapidly through the laser beams, high-
speed digital signal and computer algorithms discriminate which analyte is being carried on
each microsphere and quantifies the reaction based on fluorescent reporter signal. The
results are analyzed by the system software and presented in a readable format for analysis.
Subsystems
The Luminex FLEXMAP 3D instrument includes four subsystems: electronic, fluidic,
mechanical, and optical. The following topics describe the user-accessible components of
each subsystem.
Chapter 2: Technical Overview
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