Plasmon resonance measuring method and apparatus
First Claim
1. Apparatus for performing surface plasmon resonance (SPR) measurements on a sample, said apparatus comprising a support having side walls and a bottom wall defining a plurality of wells, said wells being arranged in a rectangular array of columns and rows in a standard microplate format, said bottom wall having integrated therein SPR detectors underlying the wells for detecting the refractive indexes of samples deposited in the wells, each SPR detector including a truncated prism having an exterior entrance surface, an exterior exit surface and an interior sensing surface located at the bottom of the overlying well, and a thin metal layer coated on the sensing surface and wherein each prism cross-section is an inverted trapezoid whose base corresponds to said sensing surface and whose opposite sides correspond to said entrance and exit surfaces, each prism also having a lowermost surface opposite the sensing surface.
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Abstract
Detection apparatus for performing surface plasmon resonance (SPR) measurements on a sample includes a support having side walls and a bottom wall defining a plurality of adjacent wells. The bottom wall has integrated therein SPR detectors underlying the wells for detecting the refractive indexes of samples deposited in the wells. Each SPR detector includes a prism having an exterior entrance surface, an exterior exit facet and an interior sensing surface located at the bottom of the overlying well, and a thin metal layer coated on the sensing surface. The prism may be molded from a transparent polymer into the bottom of a standard-format microplate structure. That structure may be used in conjunction with an SPR measuring or reading instrument to perform label-less assay measurements on various samples in an efficient and reliable manner. A method of acquiring the assay measurements is also disclosed.
46 Citations
24 Claims
- 1. Apparatus for performing surface plasmon resonance (SPR) measurements on a sample, said apparatus comprising a support having side walls and a bottom wall defining a plurality of wells, said wells being arranged in a rectangular array of columns and rows in a standard microplate format, said bottom wall having integrated therein SPR detectors underlying the wells for detecting the refractive indexes of samples deposited in the wells, each SPR detector including a truncated prism having an exterior entrance surface, an exterior exit surface and an interior sensing surface located at the bottom of the overlying well, and a thin metal layer coated on the sensing surface and wherein each prism cross-section is an inverted trapezoid whose base corresponds to said sensing surface and whose opposite sides correspond to said entrance and exit surfaces, each prism also having a lowermost surface opposite the sensing surface.
- 15. Apparatus for performing surface plasmon resonance (SPR) measurements on a sample, said apparatus comprising a support having side walls and a bottom wall defining at least one well, said bottom wall having integrated therein a prism underlying said at least one well, each prism in cross-section having the shape of an inverted irregular trapezoid and whose base constitutes the bottom of the overlying well, whose opposite sides descend from the base toward one another and each prism also having a lowermost surface opposite the base which declines toward one of said sides.
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19. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) measuring apparatus comprising
a fixture; -
a support removably received in the fixture, said support having side walls and a bottom wall defining a multiplicity of wells for receiving samples, said walls being arranged in a rectangular array of columns and rows in a standard microplate format, said bottom wall also defining truncated prisms underlying said wells, each prism having an exterior entrance surface and an exterior exit surface, said entrance and exit surface descending from an interior metallized sensing surface located at the bottom of the associated well so that each prism has a cross-section in the shape of an inverted trapezoid; a light source for directing interrogating light rays into a selected one of said prisms through the entrance surface thereof, said interrogating rays being reflected at the corresponding sensing surface and leaving the selected prism from the exit surface thereof as measuring rays; an optical detector paired with the light source for collecting said measuring rays and producing a corresponding output signal; a positioning mechanism for moving the fixture and the source/detector pair relatively, and a controller for controlling the positioning mechanism so that said multiplicity of wells can be interrogated in a selected order. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification