Automated electrophoresis and fluorescence detection apparatus and method
First Claim
1. An apparatus for electrophoretic separation and detection of a plurality of samples, each labeled with a fluorophore and loaded into a lane of an electrophoresis gel, comprising:
- (a) a housing adapted to receive an electrophoresis gel holder containing an electrophoresis gel loaded with the samples;
(b) an excitation source for providing an incident beam of coherent radiation of a frequency suitable for excitation of the fluorophore,(c) a spot array generation grating for dividing the incident beam of coherent radiation into a plurality of excitation beamlets of the frequency suitable for excitation of the fluorophore and directing each excitation beamlet to an excitation/detection site on a different lane of the electrophoresis gel; and
(d) at least one detector for detecting emissions from the excitation/detection sites.
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Abstract
Improved detection methods and apparatus which may be used individually or in various combinations enhance the ability of the electrophoresis apparatus to detect fluorophore-labeled materials in short periods of time. One such apparatus comprises a housing adapted to receive an electrophoresis gel holder; an excitation source of electromagnetic radiation having a frequency effective to induce emission of electromagnetic radiation from the fluorophore; a plurality of optical fibers for delivering electromagnetic radiation from the excitation source to a linear array of excitation/detection sites on the gel holder, optical switching means for sequentially directing electromagnetic radiation into one of several pre-defined groups of the optical fibers; detection means such as a photomultiplier tube, or an array of photomultiplier tubes for detecting emission from the fluorophore induced by a radiation from the excitation source; and means for correlating a detected emission with the switching of the excitation electromagnetic radiation such that a given emission may be linked with the excitation/detection site being irradiated.
149 Citations
15 Claims
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1. An apparatus for electrophoretic separation and detection of a plurality of samples, each labeled with a fluorophore and loaded into a lane of an electrophoresis gel, comprising:
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(a) a housing adapted to receive an electrophoresis gel holder containing an electrophoresis gel loaded with the samples; (b) an excitation source for providing an incident beam of coherent radiation of a frequency suitable for excitation of the fluorophore, (c) a spot array generation grating for dividing the incident beam of coherent radiation into a plurality of excitation beamlets of the frequency suitable for excitation of the fluorophore and directing each excitation beamlet to an excitation/detection site on a different lane of the electrophoresis gel; and (d) at least one detector for detecting emissions from the excitation/detection sites. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification