Editing Flow cytometry (section)

===Gating===
[[File:Flow cytometric gating by side scatter and CD45.png|thumb|Flow cytometry gating into main categories of [[blood cell]]s by [[side scatter]] and [[PTPRC|CD45]], in a case with normal distributions.]]
The data generated by flow cytometers can be plotted in a single [[dimension]] to produce a [[histogram]], or in two-dimensional dot plots, or even in three dimensions. The regions on these plots can be sequentially separated, based on fluorescence [[intensity (physics)|intensity]], by creating a series of subset extractions, termed "gates." Specific gating [[Medical guidelines|protocols]] exist for diagnostic and clinical purposes, especially in relation to [[hematology]]. Individual single cells are often distinguished from cell doublets or higher aggregates by their "time-of-flight" (denoted also as a "pulse-width") through the narrowly focused laser beam<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Sharpless T, Traganos F, Darzynkiewicz Z, Melamed MR | title = Flow cytofluorimetry: discrimination between single cells and cell aggregates by direct size measurements | journal = Acta Cytologica | volume = 19 | issue = 6 | pages = 577–81 | date = 1975 | pmid = 1108568 }}</ref>

The plots are often made on logarithmic scales. Because different fluorescent dyes' emission spectra overlap,<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://www.thefcn.org/flow-fluorochromes|title=Fluorochrome Table (Tools)|website=Flow Cytometry Network}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://pingu.salk.edu/flow/fluo.html|title=Table of Fluorochromes|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020225338/http://pingu.salk.edu/flow/fluo.html |archive-date=October 20, 2014}}</ref> signals at the detectors have to be compensated electronically as well as computationally. Data accumulated using the flow cytometer can be analyzed using software. Once the data is collected, there is no need to stay connected to the flow cytometer and analysis is most often performed on a separate computer.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}} This is especially necessary in core facilities where usage of these machines is in high demand.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}