Emission quenching sensors
First Claim
1. An instrument for measuring the concentration of an analyte within an operating range of interest, comprising:
- a sensing element comprising a matrix material and an emissive indicator, wherein said matrix material is permeable to a quencher comprising said analyte or a substance related to said analyte by a known relationship, and wherein said emissive indicator has a bimolecular quenching rate constant kq for said quencher, one or more fluoresence liftimes τ
o above a lowest lifetime τ
oL, and capable of emitting analyte concentration dependent signals having a concentration dependent parameter which varies as a function of analyte concentration when exposed to a excitation signal in the presence of quencher;
an excitation system coupled to the sensing element for providing the excitation signal at one or more radial frequencies ω
;
a detector coupled to the sensing element for detecting the analyte concentration dependent signal(s) and for providing detected signal(s);
a processor including memory for storing calibration information characterizing a relationship between analyte concentration and the first concentration dependent parameter, for univariantly processing the first detected signal(s) to derive the first concentration dependent parameter and providing output signal(s) representative of analyte concentration as a function of the derived concentration dependent parameter and the stored calibration information; and
wherein the sensing element and excitation system are configured to enable the instrument to operate sufficiently within the operating condition where the quantity {[(kq [Q])2 +ω
2 ]τ
o2 } is greater than 4 times the quantity {1+2kq τ
o [Q]} for all analyte concentrations within the operating range of interest and for all lifetimes τ
o greater than τ
oL, where [Q] is the concentration of said quencher in said matrix.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to a sensing instrument and method for measuring the concentration of an analyte. The sensing instrument includes: a sensing element including at least a first emissive indicator characterized by a bimolecular quenching rate constant kq, one or more fluorescence lifetimes τo above a lowest lifetime τoL, and capable of emitting analyte concentration dependent signals when exposed to an excitation signal in the presence of quencher; an excitation system which provides an amplitude modulated excitation signal at one or more radial modulation frequencies ω; a detector; and a processor. The processor univariantly processes the detected signals and provides output signals representative of analyte concentration. The sensing element and/or excitation system are configured to enable the instrument to operate sufficiently within the condition [(kq [Q])2 +ω2 ]τo2 >>1+2kq τo [Q] such that a slope of the relationship between the concentration dependent parameter and analyte concentration is independent of τo variability and/or heterogeneity for all analyte concentrations within the operating range and for all lifetimes τ o greater than τoL.
27 Citations
28 Claims
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1. An instrument for measuring the concentration of an analyte within an operating range of interest, comprising:
-
a sensing element comprising a matrix material and an emissive indicator, wherein said matrix material is permeable to a quencher comprising said analyte or a substance related to said analyte by a known relationship, and wherein said emissive indicator has a bimolecular quenching rate constant kq for said quencher, one or more fluoresence liftimes τ
o above a lowest lifetime τ
oL, and capable of emitting analyte concentration dependent signals having a concentration dependent parameter which varies as a function of analyte concentration when exposed to a excitation signal in the presence of quencher;an excitation system coupled to the sensing element for providing the excitation signal at one or more radial frequencies ω
;a detector coupled to the sensing element for detecting the analyte concentration dependent signal(s) and for providing detected signal(s); a processor including memory for storing calibration information characterizing a relationship between analyte concentration and the first concentration dependent parameter, for univariantly processing the first detected signal(s) to derive the first concentration dependent parameter and providing output signal(s) representative of analyte concentration as a function of the derived concentration dependent parameter and the stored calibration information; and
wherein the sensing element and excitation system are configured to enable the instrument to operate sufficiently within the operating condition where the quantity {[(kq [Q])2 +ω
2 ]τ
o2 } is greater than 4 times the quantity {1+2kq τ
o [Q]} for all analyte concentrations within the operating range of interest and for all lifetimes τ
o greater than τ
oL, where [Q] is the concentration of said quencher in said matrix. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An instrument for measuring the concentration of an analyte within an operating range of interest, comprising:
-
a sensing element comprising an emissive indicator configured for exposure to a quencher, said quencher comprising said analyte or a substance related to said analyte by a known relationship, and wherein said emissive indicator is characterized by a bimolecular quenching rate constant kq for said quencher, one or more fluoresence liftimes τ
o above a lowest lifetime τ
oL, and capable of emitting analyte concentration dependent signals having a concentration dependent parameter which varies as a function of analyte concentration when exposed to a excitation signal in the presence of quencher;an excitation system coupled to the sensing element for providing the excitation signal at one or more radial frequencies ω
;a detector coupled to the sensing element for detecting the analyte concentration dependent signal(s) and for providing detected signal(s); a processor including memory for storing calibration information characterizing a relationship between analyte concentration and the concentration dependent parameter, for univariantly processing the detected signal(s) to derive the concentration dependent parameter and providing output signal(s) representative of analyte concentration as a function of the derived concentration dependent parameter and the stored calibration information; and
wherein the sensing element and excitation system are configured to enable the instrument to operate sufficiently within the operating condition where the quantity {[(kq [Q])2 +ω
2 ]τ
o2 } is sufficiently greater than the quantity {1+2kq τ
o [Q]} such that a slope of the relationship between the concentration dependent parameter and analyte concentration is independent of τ
o variability for all analyte concentrations within the operating range of interest and for all lifetimes τ
o greater than τ
oL, where [Q] is the concentration of said quencher in said sensing element. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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19. An instrument for measuring the concentration of oxygen within an operating range of interest, comprising:
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a sensing element comprising a matrix material having an oxygen solubility constant a, and an emissive indicator, wherein said matrix material is permeable to oxygen, and wherein said emissive indicator has a bimolecular quenching rate constant kq for oxygen, one or more fluoresence liftimes τ
o above a lowest lifetime τ
oL, and capable of emitting oxygen concentration dependent signals having a concentration dependent parameter which varies as a function of oxygen concentration when exposed to a excitation signal in the presence of quencher;an excitation system coupled to the sensing element for providing the excitation signal at one or more radial frequencies ω
;a detector coupled to the sensing element for detecting the oxygen concentration dependent signal(s) and for providing detected signal(s); a processor including memory for storing calibration information characterizing a relationship between oxygen concentration and the first concentration dependent parameter, for univariantly processing the first detected signal(s) to derive the first concentration dependent parameter and providing output signal(s) representative of oxygen concentration as a function of the derived concentration dependent parameter and the stored calibration information; and
wherein the sensing element and excitation system are configured to enable the instrument to operate sufficiently within the operating condition where the quantity {[(akq Po2)2 +ω
2 ]τ
o2 } is greater than 4 times the quantity {1+2akq τ
o Po2 } for all oxygen concentrations within the operating range of 40 to 200 mm Hg and for all lifetimes τ
o greater than τ
oL. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification