Instrument for monitoring polymerase chain reaction of DNA
First Claim
1. An instrument comprising:
- a plurality of spaced-apart reaction ingredient containers;
a light source adapted to direct an excitation beam toward the plurality of containers;
a focusing optic disposed such that the excitation beam passes through the focusing optic to simultaneously illuminate two or more containers of the plurality of spaced-apart reaction ingredient containers;
a detector disposed to receive emission beams from the two or more containers that also pass through the focusing optic.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical instrument monitors PCR replication of DNA in a reaction apparatus having a temperature cycled block with vials of reaction ingredients including dye that fluoresces in presence of double-stranded DNA. A beam splitter passes an excitation beam to the vials to fluoresce the dye. An emission beam from the dye is passed by the beam splitter to a CCD detector from which a processor computes DNA concentration. A reference strip with a plurality of reference emitters emit reference beams of different intensity, from which the processor selects an optimum emitter for compensating for drift. Exposure time is automatically adjusted for keeping within optimum dynamic ranges of the CCD and processor. A module of the beam splitter and associated optical filters is associated with selected dye, and is replaceable for different dyes.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. An instrument comprising:
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a plurality of spaced-apart reaction ingredient containers; a light source adapted to direct an excitation beam toward the plurality of containers; a focusing optic disposed such that the excitation beam passes through the focusing optic to simultaneously illuminate two or more containers of the plurality of spaced-apart reaction ingredient containers; a detector disposed to receive emission beams from the two or more containers that also pass through the focusing optic. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 20, 21, 24, 25, 30)
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8. An instrument comprising:
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a plurality of spaced-apart reaction ingredient containers; a light source adapted to provide an excitation beam; a lens disposed along an excitation beam path between the light source and the plurality of containers; a detector disposed to receive emission beams from at least two containers of the plurality of containers when the emission beams pass through the lens; wherein the lens is positioned relative to the detector such that the excitation beam passes through the lens and simultaneously illuminates the at least two containers. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 22, 26, 27)
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14. An instrument comprising:
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a plurality of spaced-apart reaction ingredient containers; a light source providing an excitation beam disposed along an excitation beam path comprising an optical path from the light source to the plurality of spaced-apart reaction ingredient containers; a thermal cycler for holding at least one of the plurality of spaced-apart reaction ingredient containers; a detector disposed to receive emission beams emitted from at least one of the plurality of spaced-apart reaction ingredient containers; an emission beam path disposed comprising an optical path from the detector to the at least one of the plurality of spaced-apart reaction ingredient containers; and an optic disposed along both the excitation beam path and the emission beam path; wherein the excitation beam transmits through the optic and simultaneously illuminates at least two of the plurality of spaced-apart reaction ingredient containers; wherein the detector generates primary data signals representative of the emission beams. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 23, 28, 29)
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Specification