Toward the integration of cytomics and medicine.

The integration of cytomics research and healthcare informatics will facilitate technology transfer and reduce medical costs. The CytometryML prototype of the Advanced Cytometry Standard (ACS) has the benefits of including microscopic image and flow list-mode data, being based on XML and thus is compatible with existing medical and scientific informatics standards, such as HL7, and employing a design based upon the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standard. The reuse of the well tested DICOM model resulted in a great decrease in the design and documentation effort and increased probability of reliability. Schemas for flow cytometers and microscopes have been created. XML schemas for two related types of container (ZIP) files have been specified for a set of measurements. The series and instance containers respectively include the metadata that is constant and the metadata that is specific to an individual or small closely related group of measurements. 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim