Chemiluminescence detector

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11169093-B2
Application number	US-201716069492-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 13, 2017
Priority date	Jan 15, 2016
Publication date	Nov 9, 2021
Grant date	Nov 9, 2021

Abstract

The present invention provides a chemiluminescence detector, which comprises an image capture device sensitive to chemiluminescence located within a container. The container has an array of apertures located in a field of view of the image capture device, and each aperture is defined by a through-bore in a wall of the container. The exterior of the container is engagable with a plurality of sample holders, each sample holder being in alignment with a respective aperture when engaged with the exterior of the container. The passage of light into the container through each aperture is restrictable by a closure device, passage of light into the container through the apertures is thereby controllable.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A chemiluminescence detector, comprising:
an image capture device sensitive to chemiluminescence; and
a container within which the image capture device is located, the container having an array of apertures located in a field of view of the image capture device, each aperture of the array of apertures being provided defined by a through-bore in a wall of the container the container thereby having a plurality of through-bores, an exterior of the container being engageable with a plurality of sample holders, the container further comprising a dock located on the exterior of the container around the through-bores providing the apertures of the array of apertures, the dock being configured to hold each sample holder of the plurality of sample holders in alignment with a respective aperture of the array of apertures when engaged with the exterior of the container, and the container having at least one closure device, the at least one closure device being configured to restrict passage of light into the container through each aperture of the array of apertures thereby being controllable.

2. The detector according to claim 1 , wherein a plurality of walls define the container, at least a part of the plurality of walls being separable from the container.

3. The detector according to claim 2 , wherein the at least a part of the plurality of walls separable from the container has a perimeter surface abutting a complementary perimeter surface of the plurality of walls, said perimeter surfaces forming a complementary pair of perimeter surfaces, the respective complimentary pair of perimeter surfaces being configured to suppress light ingress to the interior of the container.

4. The detector according to claim 3 , wherein each perimeter surface of the complementary pair of perimeter surfaces comprising a textured portion complementary to a textured portion on the perimeter surface with which the respective perimeter surface forms the complementary pair of perimeter surfaces.

5. The detector according to claim 4 , wherein each textured portion comprises a plurality of ribs, each rib being a continuous ring oriented so that the ring extends along and around the textured portion, the plurality of ribs being arranged concentrically.

6. The detector according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one closure device is a plurality of closure devices, wherein each closure device of the plurality of closure devices is able to restrict passage of light through only a single aperture of the array of aperatures.

7. The detector according to claim 6 , wherein each closure device of the plurality of closure devices is able to restrict passage of light through a single aperture of the array of apertures independently of each other closure device.

8. The detector according to claim 1 , wherein each closure device is moveable between a closed position and an open position, wherein in the closed position each respective closure device provides a barrier between the exterior of the container and the interior of the container across the entirety of each aperture of the array of apertures through which said closure device is able to restrict the passage of light, and in the open position the barrier is only across a part of each aperture of the array of apertures through which said closure device is able to restrict the passage of light or is completely removed from being across each aperture of the array of apertures through which said closure device is able to restrict the passage of light.

9. The detector according to claim 8 , wherein each closure device is a shutter.

10. The detector according to claim 9 , wherein in the closed position, a surface of each respective shutter abuts a wall of the container on the inside of the container and is located over at least one through-bore defining an aperture of the array of apertures, and in the open position, there is a gap between said surface of said shutter and said wall of the container.

11. The detector according to claim 9 , wherein each shutter is rotatable about an axis at an edge of the respective shutter.

12. The detector according to claim 11 , wherein each shutter is rotatable by a motor, optionally the motor comprising a solenoid with a bore therethrough within which is located a magnet, the magnet being connected to a rack with which a pinion is engaged, the pinion being connected to the shutter with its centre aligned with the axis about which the shutter is rotatable.

13. The detector according to claim 12 , wherein the solenoid is bi-stable.

14. The detector according to claim 9 , wherein each shutter is bias towards the closed position.

15. The detector according to claim 14 , wherein the bias is provided by a spring.

16. The detector according to claim 15 , wherein the spring is a torsion spring.

17. The detector according to claim 1 , wherein the dock is configured to restrict passage of light between the exterior of the container and each sample holder when engaged with the exterior of the container.

18. The detector according to claim 17 , wherein the dock comprises a recessed portion shaped to fit a plurality of sample holders when engaged with the exterior of the container.

19. The detector according to claim 1 , further comprising a sensor configured to detect when each closure device is in an open position or in a closed position; and/or
further comprising a sensor configured to detect when a sample holder is engaged with the exterior of the container.

20. A chemiluminescence detection apparatus, comprising:
a chemiluminescence detector according to claim 1 ; and
a plurality of sample holders detachably engagable with the exterior of the container of the detector, each sample holder of the plurality of sample holders containing at least one sample.

21. The apparatus according to claim 20 , wherein the exterior of the container and each sample holder of the plurality of sample holders are configured to suppress light ingress between the exterior of the container and respective sample holder of the plurality of sample holders when said sample holder is engaged with the exterior of the container.

22. The apparatus according to claim 21 , wherein the exterior of the container comprises a textured portion around each position at which a sample holder of the plurality of sample holders is able to be engaged and each sample holder of the plurality of sample holders comprising a textured portion complementary to the textured portion of the exterior of the container on a surface of the respective sample holder of the plurality of sample holders that abuts the exterior of the container when the respective sample holder of the plurality of sample holders is engaged with the exterior of the container.

23. The apparatus according to claim 22 , wherein each textured portion comprises a plurality of ribs, each rib being a continuous ring orientated so that the rind extend along and around the textured portion, the plurality of ribs being arranged concentrically.

24. The detector according to claim 1 , wherein the dock comprises a rim defining an area within which the sample holders fit when engaged with the dock, the rim further providing an abutment surface for sample holders, the abutment surface defining the orientation in which the sample holders are able to be positioned when engaged with the dock.

25. A method of detecting chemiluminescence, comprising:
engaging at least

Assignees

• Randox Laboratories Ltd

Inventors

• Jackson Stuart
• Mcconnell Ivan
• Fitzgerald Peter

Classifications

• G01N21/6452

  Individual samples arranged in a regular 2D-array, e.g. multiwell plates · CPC title

• G01N21/6428

  Measuring fluorescence of fluorescent products of reactions or of fluorochrome labelled reactive substances, e.g. measuring quenching effects, using measuring "optrodes" (in vivo A61B5/00; immunoassay G01N33/53) · CPC title

• G01N21/645

  Specially adapted constructive features of fluorimeters · CPC title

• G01N21/6456

  Spatial resolved fluorescence measurements; Imaging · CPC title

• G01N21/6486

  Measuring fluorescence of biological material, e.g. DNA, RNA, cells (G01N21/6428 takes precedence) · CPC title