The Haematology department at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, uses a BD FACScan System to check the quality of bone marrow for transplants.
The Haematology department at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, uses a BD FACScan System to check the quality of bone marrow for transplants.
Lisa Thomas, Operational Manager for Haematology, explained: "We use flow cytometry for monitoring bone marrow and stem cell transplants.
We look at the stem cell level of the donor before donation to make sure it has been boosted to an appropriate level and then the level is checked again after donation as a way of controlling quality of the products before they are given to patients." "We also use the BD FACScan for sub-typing of leukaemia and lymphoma patients.
Cells are typed by mixing them with conjugated antibodies and observing whether or not they are positive for a particular antigen.
For each patient, we put up a panel of antibodies and classify the different cells using the antibody profiles." "BD Biosciences' products are excellent, especially the antibodies which generally have a better shelf life than those from other suppliers.
We have always had a good relationship with the staff.
They are very helpful and the response time has always been good.
It is nice to know that if you ring for an engineer they always ring you back."
