The present invention relates to a method that generates new flow
cytometry data files with a potentially infinite number of dimensions,
each event contained in these data files having associated information
for each of the whole set of parameters evaluated, such information
deriving from data which was either directly measured in the flow
cytometer or estimated afterwards. The invention comprises the steps of:
1) fusing two or more separate flow cytometry data files containing
information about events measured in different aliquots from the same
sample; these original data files contain, in common, data about one or
more parameters at the same time they contain information about one or
more different parameters, 2) estimating the magnitude of the values and
a corresponding uncertainty measure of the differing variables between
one or more of the original data files which have been fused, for each
individual event contained in the fused data file, for which that
variable was not directly measured in the flow cytometer and; 3)
reconstructing multidimensionally the new data file containing both the
real data measured in the flow cytometer for each event of the individual
original data files fused and the estimated data for those parameters not
measured in a group of events from one or more of the original data
files. This invention enables the generation of data files containing
information for single cellular events from a sample about a higher
number of parameters than those actually measured in the flow cytometer
for each of the original data files that have been fused; the overall
number of parameters for which values are assigned to each individual
cellular event included in the new data file can be as large as the total
number of parameters measured in the whole group of fused data files.
This allows a more powerful identification, enumeration and
characterization of different populations of events contained in a
sample.