Autofluorescence imaging identifies activated blood immune cells nearly 94% accurately
Technology
Researchers just rolled out a cool new way to study immune cells from blood without using any chemical dyes or labels.
Instead, they use autofluorescence lifetime imaging, which basically means they watch the natural glow of molecules as cells do their thing.
Tested on real blood samples, this method spotted activated immune cells with nearly 94% accuracy in just 2 hours.
Researchers distinguish immune cell types metabolically
This technique gives a much clearer look at how different immune cells work by analyzing their metabolism directly, something older methods can't do as well.
It worked on thousands of T cells, B cells, monocytes, and natural killer (NK) cells from healthy donors, identifying monocytes with up to 96% accuracy and NK cells with 74%.