Cytek® NL-CLC
Overview
A new clinical flow cytometry system that maximizes the operational efficiency of clinical laboratories across the board.
The Cytek Northern Lights (NL)-CLC brings the same revolutionary spectral technologies found on other Cytek cytometers to the clinical environment. Its unique optical design and unmixing algorithm increases efficiency by allowing more information to be gleaned from a single tube, saving time and resources. The state-of-the-art optics and advanced electronics provide excellent sensitivity, resolution, and event rate. Flat-top laser beam profiles, combined with a uniquely designed fluidics system, translate to outstanding performance at high sample flow rates.
The end result is a system is that leverages the advantages of full spectrum technology to bring practical benefits to clinical workflows.
SpectroFlo software offers an assortment of efficiency-enhancing tools, that includes portable templates, reusable reference controls and much more.
The Cytek team has reimagined all parts of the clincal workflow paradigm to become a solutions provider for all your diagnostic needs from instrumentation to software and reagent kits.
Remarkable Sensitivity and Data Quality
Sensitivity redefined using state-of-the-art optics and low-noise electronics.
Superb resolution of dim and rare populations, even in high complexity panels and at high flow rates.
Expand panel capabilities without compromising data quality.
Clinical Insights With Less Sample
Reach the same conclusions with fewer tubes.
Saving reagents, precious patient sample, and acquisition time equates togreater cost savings and improved laboratory efficiency.
Ease of Use
Day-to-day instrument standardization through the Daily QC module provides the capability to re-use reference controls.
Intuitive and easy to use software with capability to transfer experiment and worksheet templates across different systems.
Specifications
Optics
Excitation Optics
Optical Platform
The Cytek Northern Lights (NL)-CLC contains a fixed optical assembly configured with one to three spatially separated laser beams. Laser delays are automatically adjusted during instrument QC.
Lasers
One laser configuration: 488nm: 50mW
Two laser configuration: 488nm: 50mW, 640nm: 80mW
Three laser configuration: 405nm: 100mW, 488nm: 50mW, 640nm: 80mW
Beam geometry
Flat-Top laser beam profile with narrow vertical beam height optimized for small particle detection.
Emission Optics
Emission Collection
Fused silica cuvette coupled to high NA lens for optimum collection efficiency to optical fibers.
Forward and Side Scatter Detection
FSC: high-performance semiconductor detector with 488nm bandpass filter.
SSC: Two high-performance semiconductor detectors with 405nm and 488nm bandpass filter. Note: 405nm side scatter applies to three laser configurations only.
Fluorescence Detectors
Proprietary high sensitivity Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing (CWDM) semiconductor array per laser enabling more efficient spectrum capture in the 420-830nm range. No filter changes required for any fluorochrome excited by the 405nm, 488nm, and 640nm lasers.
Standard Optical Configuration
Violet detector module (only available in three laser configurations): 16 channels uneven spaced bandwidth from 420nm-829nm.
Blue detector module: 14 channels uneven spaced bandwidth from 498-829nm.
Red detector module: 8 channels uneven spaced bandwidth from 652-829nm.
Fluidics
Sample Flow Rates
Low: 15 µL/min, Medium: 30 µL/min, High: 60 µL/min,
Fluidic Modes
Long clean, SIT flush, Purge filter, Clean flow cell
Manual Sample Input Formats
12x75mm polystyrene and polypropylene tubes
Standard Fluidic Reservoirs
4L fluid container set with level-sensing provided. Compatible with 20L sheath and waste cubitainers.
Volumetric Sensor
Volumetric measurement during sample recording enables calculation of counts per µL for any gated population.
Performance
Forward and Side Scatter Resolution
Performance is optimized for resolving lymphocytes, monocytes, granulocytes and platelets from red blood cells.
Side Scatter Resolution
Capable of resolving 0.2µm beads from noise.
Carryover
≤1%
Data Acquisition Rate
35,000 events/s*
* Three-laser system
Software
SpectroFlo® Software
Live unmixing during acquisition
Developed specifically to streamline assay setup, data acquisition, and file export
Automated QC module
Autofluorescence extraction
Raw and Unmixed FCS 3.1 files
Electronics
Signal Processing
Digital signal processing with automatic window gate adjustment.
22-bit 6.5 log decades.
Threshold using any single parameter or combination of parameters.
Pulse Shape Parameters
Pulse Area and Height for every parameter. Width for scatter parameters and one fluorescence parameter for each laser.
Workstation
Operating System
Windows® 10 Pro 64-bit
Processor
Intel® Core™ i7 processor
RAM
16GB
Hard Drive
500GB SSD and 1TB SATA
Video Processor
NVIDIA® HD GeForce
Monitor
32” UHD 4K Monitor
Installation Requirements
Dimensions (W x D x H)
Instrument Dimensions
54 x 52 x 52 cm
Instrument Weight
Instrument weight: 61 kg
Recommended Workspace
165 x 76 x 132 cm
Room Requirements
Power
100-140 VAC, 15A / 200-250 VAC, 10A
Heat Dissipation
500W with all solid-state lasers
Temperature
15–28°C
Humidity
20%-85% relative non-condensing
Air filtering
No excessive dust or smoke
Lighting
No special requirements
Regulatory Status
The Cytek Northern Lights (NL)-CLC flow cytometer system is is intended for use as an in vitro diagnostic device in countries where the regulatory approval has been obtained from the local regulatory authorities.
Please check with your sales representatives for local status.
Software
SpectroFlo® Software Guided Workflows
SpectroFlo software offers an assortment of efficiency tools, which include portable experiment and analysis templates, reusable reference controls, and much more.
Portable Experiment and Worksheet
Experiment and worksheet templates are designed to be portable within the SpectroFlo work environment. Users can easily transfer templates to other NL-CLC workstations, ensuring consistency across labs. The software’s portability makes it easier to deploy templates across global, multi-site laboratories.
Reference Control Stability and Reusability
Enhanced system stability enable reference controls to be acquired, stored in the library, and reused for future assays. Stored reference controls are automatically adjusted by Daily QC to maintain consistent assay performance across time, effectively eliminating the need to run single color controls with every experiment.
Experiment Workflow
From the Acquisition menu, you can start a new experiment and begin acquiring your data in three simple guided steps.
Performance Data
24 Colors With Three Lasers... Is it Possible?
The optical design combined with the unmixing capability in SpectroFlo® software allows greater fluorochrome choice, panel flexibility, and easy setup without having to change filters. The three laser configuration provides outstanding multi-parametric data for a wide array of applications. Markers and fluorochromes in a 24-color panel designed for identification of circulating cell subsets in human peripheral blood are summarized in the table below:
| Specificity | Fluorochrome | Specificity | Fluorochrome | Specificity | Fluorochrome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCR7 | Brilliant Violet 421™ | CD11c | BD Horizon™ BB515 | CD27 | APC |
| CD19 | Super Bright 436 | CD45RA | Alexa Fluor® 488 | CD123 | Alexa Fluor® 647 |
| CD16 | eFluor® 450 | CD3 | Alexa Fluor® 532 | CD127 | BD Horizon™ APC R700 |
| TCR γ/δ | BD Horizon™ BV480 | CD25 | PE | HLA DR | APC/Fire™ 750 |
| CD14 | Brilliant Violet 510™ | IgD | PE/Dazzle™ 594 | ||
| CD8 | Brilliant Violet 570™ | CD95 | PE-Cy™5 | ||
| CD1c | Brilliant Violet 605™ | CD11b | PerCP-Cy™5.5 | ||
| PD-1 | Brilliant Violet 650™ | CD38 | PerCP-eFluor® 710 | ||
| CD56 | Brilliant Violet 711™ | CD57 | PE-Cy™7 | ||
| CD4 | Brilliant Violet 750™ | ||||
| CD28 | Brilliant Violet 785™ |
The 24-Color Panel Includes Many Highly Overlapping Dyes:
24-Color Data:
The 24-color panel is demonstrated in a healthy donor using a whole blood lyse wash sample preparation.
(Click to Enlarge)
Increase Efficiency With Full Spectrum Cytometry
By enabling deeper biological insights from each sample, the NL-CLC platform improves efficiencies across the entire sample-to-answer workflows for immunophenotyping, hematology, and more.
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Additional Cost Savings
Less sample needed to obtain the same amount of information as conventional systems.
Reduced reagent and consumable costs.
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Faster time to results
Decreased time for sample preparation and acquisition.
Example 1: Evaluating Minimum Residual Disease (MRD)
To demonstrate these efficiencies, let's look at a very well-established 3 tube acute myeloid leukemia (AML) MRD assay1 created for a conventional 3-laser (405, 488, and 638 nm) system. To complete the assay, 3 separate tubes must be prepared and acquired. With Cytek's NL-CLC, that same information can be obtained from a single tube. Shown here is a comparison of the panels. Below, a side-by-side comparison of data from the original 3 tube assay, and Cytek’s single tube assay, acquired with the NL-CLC for a fresh bone marrow sample from a healthy donor. The plots displayed follow the gating strategy used in Wood, B.L. (2020)1.
1 - Wood, B. L. (2020). Acute Myeloid Leukemia Minimal Residual Disease Detection: The Difference from Normal Approach. Current Protocols in Cytometry, 93(1). doi:10.1002/cpcy.73
| 3-Tube Assay* | 1-Tube Assay | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tube | Specificity | Fluorochrome | Specificity | Fluorochrome |
| 1 | CD13 | PC7 | CD13 | PE-Cy7 |
| 1 | CD15 | FITC | CD15 | FITC |
| 1 | CD19 | PE-CF594 | CD19 | Brilliant Violet 750 |
| 1 | CD33 | PE | CD33 | PE |
| 1 | CD34 | APC | CD34 | APC |
| 1 | CD38 | A594 | CD38 | Brilliant Violet 510 |
| 1 | CD45 | APC-H7 | CD45 | APC-H7 |
| 1 | CD71 | APC-A700 | CD71 | APC-A700 |
| 1 | CD117 | PC5 | CD117 | PE-Cy5 |
| 1 | HLA-DR | Pacific Blue | HLA-DR | Brilliant Violet 480 |
| 2 | CD4 | ECD | CD4 | Brilliant Violet 570 |
| 2 | CD13 | PC7 | ||
| 2 | CD14 | PC5.5 | CD14 | PE-Cy5.5 |
| 2 | CD16 | APC-A700 | CD16 | Pacific Blue |
| 2 | CD34 | APC | ||
| 2 | CD38 | A594 | ||
| 2 | CD45 | APC-H7 | ||
| 2 | CD64 | FITC | CD64 | Brilliant Violet 605 |
| 2 | CD123 | PE | CD123 | Brilliant Violet 421 |
| 2 | HLA-DR | Pacific Blue | ||
| 3 | CD5 | PC5 | CD5 | PE/Dazzle 594 |
| 3 | CD7 | PE | CD7 | Brilliant Violet 786 |
| 3 | CD33 | PC7 | ||
| 3 | CD34 | APC | ||
| 3 | CD38 | A594 | ||
| 3 | CD45 | APC-H7 | ||
| 3 | CD56 | A488 | CD56 | Brilliant Violet 711 |
| 3 | HLA-DR | Pacific Blue | ||
Note: for non-fresh samples, Zombie NIR was added to all tubes to exclude dead cells from downstream analyses.
*Fluorochromes names in 3-tube assay are copied verbatim from the reference paper for consistency
Figure 1: Comparable Performance Between 1-Tube and 3-Tube Assays
(Click to Enlarge)
High Quality, Full Spectrum NL-CLC Single Tube Patient Data
Below, witness for yourself the stunning resolution and clarity attained with full spectrum data from the NL-CLC. The full spectrum 1-tube assay is demonstrated in 3 different samples: 1) fresh bone marrow from a healthy donor; 2) cryo-preserved bone marrow from a patient in remission from AML; and 3) cryo-preserved bone marrow from a patient recently diagnosed with AML.
(Click to Enlarge)