title: Data compression: 8-dimensional flow cytometric data processing with 28K addressable computer memory.
abstract: A method of data analysis for flow cytometry is presented which enables up to eight-dimensional data to be handled by a microcomputer with 28K addressable plus a further 32K non-addressable memory. The multi-parameter coordinates are coded into single numbers using a minimal modification of the array vector mapping equation. These code numbers, each of which corresponds to a given set of coordinates, and then ranked in ascending order according to magnitude and the frequency of each code number is found. Following this step the code is then decoded by integer arithmetic into its original coordinates which are then packed, together with the frequency, into two, three or four 16-bit words depending on the dimensionality of the data set. A five-dimensional data set is used as the illustration. Three regions were set on one two-dimensional data space and the five mono-dimensional histograms, plus a different bivariate distribution, were extracted in a single pass through the processed data file. In addition to considerable space saving the technique has two further attributes, namely, increased speed with which the user can appreciate multiparameter data and the ability to analyse such data sets with a microcomputer.
authors.affiliation: MRC Laboratory of Clinical Oncology, Medical School, Cambridge, U.K.
authors.forename: J V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Horsnell
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008838:Microcomputers; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000032:analysis / Q000473:pathology; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D012984:Software / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm