Method and apparatus for producing and measuring light and for determining the amounts of analytes in microplate wells
First Claim
1. A photochemical method for measuring light emitted by a liquid subjected to an excitation light said liquid contained in a vessel, said method comprising:
- (a) producing an excitation light having a first wavelength band, for a pre-determined time period;
(b) transmitting said excitation light into said liquid through a fiber bundle;
(c) said liquid producing, in a photochemical response to said excitation light, an emitted light having a second wavelength band, said second wavelength band being shorter than and separated from said first wavelength band;
(d) passing said emitted light to a detector through a fiber bundle surrounding and coaxial with the fiber bundle of (a);
(e) detecting said emitted light for a predetermined period of time after producing of said excitation light ceases;
(f) determining the amount of light received by said detector, said amount being indicative of the amount of said emitted light produced by said liquid; and
, (g) shielding said detector from said excitation light when said excitation light is being produced.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for measuring light in samples using a high intensity light source, is presented. The system utilizes bifurcated fiber bundles to transmit light at the excitation and emission wavelength bands. It also uses a band-pass filter for eliminating extraneous light, including that which corresponds to the excitation wavelength range, while permitting the emitted light to pass to a detector for quantitation. The system employs a shutter to shield the detector while the laser light source is activated, and a controller to intermittently activate the laser light and close the shutter. The apparatus preferably includes lenses for better illumination and read out conditions. The apparatus is employed in Luminescence Oxygen Channeling Immunoassays. The method has high sensitivity, accuracy and precision, and the apparatus is highly compact. Accordingly, the analyzer can perform assays in nanoliter to microliter sample volumes in standard microplates having at least 96, 384 or 1536 wells.
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Citations
62 Claims
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1. A photochemical method for measuring light emitted by a liquid subjected to an excitation light said liquid contained in a vessel, said method comprising:
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(a) producing an excitation light having a first wavelength band, for a pre-determined time period;
(b) transmitting said excitation light into said liquid through a fiber bundle;
(c) said liquid producing, in a photochemical response to said excitation light, an emitted light having a second wavelength band, said second wavelength band being shorter than and separated from said first wavelength band;
(d) passing said emitted light to a detector through a fiber bundle surrounding and coaxial with the fiber bundle of (a);
(e) detecting said emitted light for a predetermined period of time after producing of said excitation light ceases;
(f) determining the amount of light received by said detector, said amount being indicative of the amount of said emitted light produced by said liquid; and
,(g) shielding said detector from said excitation light when said excitation light is being produced. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 61, 62)
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36. An optical measurement system for producing excitation light and measuring light emitted by a sample by a photochemical reaction in a vessel, said system comprising:
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a light source, said light source producing light in an excitation wavelength band;
a first fiber bundle for transmitting the light to liquid in said vessel;
a second fiber bundle for transmitting the light emitted from said well, said light being emitted at an emitted wavelength shorter than and separated from said excitation wavelength;
a filter, said filter reducing light at an excitation wavelength band and passing at least a portion of the emitted light;
a detector, said detector receiving said emitted light and determining the amount of said emitted light;
a shutter; and
a controller for closing said shutter whenever said light source is producing said excitation light. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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Specification