The high sensitivity of the method ( detection limit < 1 cell per 100 000 ) makes it especially attractive in situations where the producing cells represent only a small fraction of a cell population like in studies of antigen-specific polyfunctional T cells, identification of functionally defined T-cell subtypes such as Th1, Th2, Th17 or Th22, or in studies of antigen-specific B cells and Epstein-Barr specific clinical secreting different isotypes or subclasses.
