Hello everybody,

We are pleased to announce (1) the launch of the Honeychrome software package (now including AutoSpectral by Oliver Burton), and (2) a new level of maturity in the Cytkit instrument design towards launch of the kit.

We will be at CYTO to discuss both. Get in touch if you want to see the instrument and software in action. We are also presenting a poster P161.

Honeychrome

This is launched with installers for Windows, MacOS and Linux, (as well as the source code and the PyPI package for Python users.) Apart from data acquisition on Cytkit (and hopefully more instruments in the future), it does state-of-the-art unmixing using the AutoSpectral Control Cleaning and Autofluorescence algorithms. There are lots more features, documentation and an plugin system to make it easy for users to extend its data analysis capabilities using FlowKit and the popular Python libraries for statistics, data processing and ML/AI (numpy, matplotlib, scipy, sklearn…).

We hope that this will soon become the standard in open source cytometery software. Honeychrome is now version 0.8.2, but already looking fairly mature. Please try it and give us your feedback for its continued improvement.

Downloads and documentation: https://honeychrome.cytkit.com

The Colibri Cytometry blog post: how to use AutoSpectral in Honeychrome: https://www.colibri-cytometry.com/post/autospectral-in-honeychrome

Cytkit

The optics is now quite mature, allowing easy assembly, alignment, competitive precision (rCV ~ 3%) and sensitivity (8-peak Spherotech rainbow beads RCP-30-5 well resolved in green/yellow emission band). We testing the 2^nd revision of the electronics kit and preparing to launch the first batch of kits in Q3 2026.

There are two models of Cytkit emerging (both share the same open source mechanical, optical and fluidic design, based on 3D printed and easy-to-obtain parts):

• Cytkit 1S-1F (1 scatter, 1 fluorescence) – this is achievable using only off-the-shelf detectors and lab electronics: a Thorlabs amplified photodiode, a Hamamatsu PMT, and a Picoscope 5000-Series USB oscilloscope for data acquisition, interfacing with Honeychrome on the host PC, plus power supplies and pump controllers. We acknowledge that 1 fluorescence is pushing the definition of a spectral cytometer! But you can mount that detector at any wavelength of your choosing. This model is fully open source, and intended primarily as a platform for innovators interested in R&D of cytometry instrumentation, rather than as a workhorse instrument.
• Cytkit 2S-14F (2 scatter FSC/SSC, 14 fluorescence in the range 500-850 nm) – this required the development of a new electronics set which we are spinning off as a product of a a new company. The electronics set comprises the amplified photodiode detector boards, silicon photomultiplier array board, controllers, digital electronics, power supplies, USB communications and ancillary components needed to make a complete highly-usable cytometer. This model is intended for cytometrists, biologists, educators, innovators and enthusiasts, to be easy to build, assemble, test, maintain and customise. And of course to use as a productive cytometer, competitively with current commercial instruments.

See the preview here:

And watch this space for full instructions and the launch of the kit.

Sign-up: https://cykit.com

Best wishes,

Samson and the Cytkit Project