Optical biosensor system
First Claim
1. An optical biosensor system using an internal reflection versus angle of incidence determination for detecting a specific biomolecule, comprising:
- a sensor unit including a transparent plate, at least a portion of one of the faces of said plate having a dielectric film adhered thereto, or being primarily coated with a metal film to which has been adhered a dielectric film, said dielectric film having an affinity for the specific biomolecule at the time the measurement is carried out;
a light source, including first lens means, for directing a beam of light at an interface of the transparent plate and said metal film or said dielectric film directly adhered thereto to produce an evanescent wave at a sensing surface of said dielectric film when a sample solution contacts said dielectric film on the transparent plate;
optical imaging instrumentation including second lens means by which one of light reflected from said sensing surface of the transparent plate, light originating from the sample through evanescent wave stimulated fluorescence or phosphorescence, and light originating from scattering at said sensing surface, is imaged on a photodetector device; and
an evaluation unit for determining at least one of an angle of minimum reflectance, a state of polarization, and a collected light intensity;
wherein at least one sensing surface is arranged on the sensor unit;
wherein said at least one sensing surface, in order to form an elongated flow cell, is pressed over an upwardly open portion of at least one channel for the sample solution which is to be analyzed and affects at least one of the angle of minimum reflectance, the polarization state for minimum reflectance, and the collected light intensity, at which the evanescent wave interacts with the sample;
wherein said first lens means forms a convergent beam of light focused in a wedge-shape fashion to form a streak of light extending transversely over all of said at least one sensing surface;
wherein the photodetector device, at least in the case of more than one sensing surface, is a two-dimensional matrix of individual photodetectors;
wherein said second lens means is a lens system for imaging rays of one of said reflected light from said at least one sensing surface, said light emitted from the sample, and said light originating from scattering at the sensing surface onto a corresponding column of photodetectors, so that said at least one sensing surface has at least one corresponding column of photodetectors;
wherein said evaluation unit determines at least one of the angle of minimum reflectance, the state of polarization, and the collected light intensity, for said at least one sensing surface.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical biosensor system using internal reflection versus angle of incidence determination for the detection of biomolecules, the system comprising a sensor unit (10) with at least two sensing surfaces (39A-D), a source of light (1), and lens means (2) for forming a convergent beam of light which is focused in wedge-shape fashion to form a streak of light (5) extending transversely over all the sensing surfaces; a photodetector device (7) in the form of a two-dimensional matrix of individual photodetector; optical imaging instrumentation in the form of an anamorphic lens system (6) for the purpose of imaging rays of reflected light from the sensing surfaces on each its own column of photodetectors, so that for each sensing surface there is a corresponding set of columns of photodetectors; and an evaluation unit (8) for determining the minimum reflectance or the resonance angle at each of the sensing surfaces. The invention also relates to a method for calibrating the biosensor system, a method for correcting for baseline drift as well as a method for temperature regulation of thermostat means in the biosensor system.
428 Citations
53 Claims
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1. An optical biosensor system using an internal reflection versus angle of incidence determination for detecting a specific biomolecule, comprising:
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a sensor unit including a transparent plate, at least a portion of one of the faces of said plate having a dielectric film adhered thereto, or being primarily coated with a metal film to which has been adhered a dielectric film, said dielectric film having an affinity for the specific biomolecule at the time the measurement is carried out; a light source, including first lens means, for directing a beam of light at an interface of the transparent plate and said metal film or said dielectric film directly adhered thereto to produce an evanescent wave at a sensing surface of said dielectric film when a sample solution contacts said dielectric film on the transparent plate; optical imaging instrumentation including second lens means by which one of light reflected from said sensing surface of the transparent plate, light originating from the sample through evanescent wave stimulated fluorescence or phosphorescence, and light originating from scattering at said sensing surface, is imaged on a photodetector device; and an evaluation unit for determining at least one of an angle of minimum reflectance, a state of polarization, and a collected light intensity; wherein at least one sensing surface is arranged on the sensor unit; wherein said at least one sensing surface, in order to form an elongated flow cell, is pressed over an upwardly open portion of at least one channel for the sample solution which is to be analyzed and affects at least one of the angle of minimum reflectance, the polarization state for minimum reflectance, and the collected light intensity, at which the evanescent wave interacts with the sample; wherein said first lens means forms a convergent beam of light focused in a wedge-shape fashion to form a streak of light extending transversely over all of said at least one sensing surface; wherein the photodetector device, at least in the case of more than one sensing surface, is a two-dimensional matrix of individual photodetectors; wherein said second lens means is a lens system for imaging rays of one of said reflected light from said at least one sensing surface, said light emitted from the sample, and said light originating from scattering at the sensing surface onto a corresponding column of photodetectors, so that said at least one sensing surface has at least one corresponding column of photodetectors; wherein said evaluation unit determines at least one of the angle of minimum reflectance, the state of polarization, and the collected light intensity, for said at least one sensing surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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16. The optical biosensor system of 13, wherein pneumatic valves are formed in through openings in said planar support plate, by the second elastomer layer above these through openings, and by valve seats in the form of projections from the third elastomer layer of said base plate.
Specification