BD Symphony

The Advanced Flow Cytometry Platform BD Biosciences "Symphony" cell analyser is a next generation high end analytical flow cytometer.

Utilising decagon detector arrays and an ultra-quiet VPX electronics system that can support up to 50 high-performance photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) the Symphony improves detection sensitivity enabling you to identify and analyse rare cell types and events.

The technology allow you to;

Build better mid-size panels with low compensation values
Deep phenotyping with larger fluorescent panels for biomarker discovery, combining traditional and novel dyes
Collect maximal information from a small and precious sample
Increase lab throughput with broad phenotyping panels that combine multiple cell-line-specific panels.

Symphony is run SELF-SERVICE only (following training)

Symphony configuration

BD FACSymphony A5 cell analyser is an advanced "SORP" flow cytometer with 5 lasers and 29 colours. Like the Fortessa it has five lasers (though some have higher power than the Fortessa), but with 11 more fluorescent channels it permits substantially deeper phenotyping and/or increasing throughput by combining panels. Software is FACSDiva (version 9). Specifications:

5 laser, 31 parameter SORP instrument
Laser, detector and filter configuration: 7 UV/ 8 Violet/ 6 Blue/ 5 Yellow-Green/ 3 Red
355 nm (UV), 405 nm (violet), 488nm (blue), 561nm (yellow-green), 633 nm (red).

Link to manufacturer page

Options

Filter swaps: unlike the Fortessa, users cannot swap the filters. With so many more channels available, this won’t be an issue for most users.

We currently do not use the HTS (plate loader) option.

Booking

The analysers are available self-service only, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for use by investigators except during weekly maintenance and repair periods.

You can book on the Equipment pages of our iLab calendar.

Before an investigator can book and use the equipment, they must register with the Flow Core and attend mandatory Basic Training, plus our free (monthly, online) top-up Fortessa training. Our Fortessa training is sufficient to book and use the Symphony – it is the same Diva software and very similar to run so there is no extra training requirement for the Symphony.

Important

The Symphony has some higher laser powers, and different filters in most channels compared to the Fortessa. So if you are using Application Settings on the Fortessa you will NOT be able to use the Symphony for those samples due to the differences.

However, if you run standard experiments on the Fortessa you will find the same channels available on the Symphony and could use this instrument instead. Whilst results should be similar, do not directly compare results from the Fortessas to the Symphony.

If you want to set up Application Settings on the Symphony, please contact us as we have specific advice for this instrument.

Filter swaps: unlike the Fortessa, users cannot swap the filters (they are bonded together in pairs and incompatible with our Fortessa filters). However, with so many more channels available, this won't be an issue for most users.

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