Optical instrument including excitation source

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9285318-B2
Application number	US-201213619679-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 14, 2012
Priority date	May 17, 1999
Publication date	Mar 15, 2016
Grant date	Mar 15, 2016

Abstract

An optical instrument is provided for simultaneously illuminating two or more spaced-apart reaction regions with an excitation beam generated by a light source. A collimating lens can be disposed along a beam path between the light source and the reaction regions to form bundles of collimated excitation beams, wherein each bundle corresponds to a respective reaction region. Methods of analysis using the optical instrument are also provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An instrument comprising:
a block with a plurality of spaced-apart reaction regions;
a light emitting diode source configured to direct a plurality of diverging excitation beams toward the plurality of reaction regions;
a plurality of detectors disposed to receive respective emission beams corresponding to one of the excitation beams, each emission beam emitted from the plurality of reaction regions and having a propagation path disposed along a propagation axis;
a lens system disposed to direct the excitation beams into two or more spaced-apart discrete excitation beams parallel to an optical axis of the lens system, each discrete excitation beam having a propagation path disposed along a propagation axis, wherein the discrete excitation beams are separated from one another and each discrete excitation beam irradiates a respective one of the plurality of reaction regions separate from the reaction regions irradiated by the other discrete excitation beams;
wherein, during operation, (1) the plurality of discrete excitation beams simultaneously illuminate respective reaction regions of the plurality of spaced-apart reaction regions and (2) the propagation axis of each discrete excitation beam and the propagation axis of a corresponding one of the emission beams are directed along a common optical axis;
wherein, during operation, the propagation path of each discrete excitation beam and the propagation path of a corresponding one of the emission beams are directed along a common optical path.

2. The instrument of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of reaction regions comprises a plurality of sample wells.

3. The instrument of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of reaction regions comprises two or more wells of a multi-well microtiter plate.

4. The instrument of claim 1 , wherein the lens system is disposed between the plurality of reaction regions and the detector.

5. The instrument of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of detectors comprises an array detector comprising a charge-coupled device (CCD), a charge injection device (CID), a plurality of CMOS pixels, a plurality of photodiodes, or a plurality of photomultipliers.

6. The instrument of claim 5 , wherein the detector array comprises at least a first detector and a second detector, the plurality of reaction regions comprises at least first reaction region and a second reaction, the instrument comprises a first lens disposed along a first emission path between the first reaction region and a the first detector, and the instrument comprises a second lens disposed along a second emission path between the second reaction region and a the second detector.

7. The instrument of claim 6 , further comprising a plurality of respective dichroic filters corresponding to each of the excitation beams, wherein each dichroic filter is configured to transmit light from the corresponding excitation beams and reflect emission light from the corresponding emission beam, wherein the common optical axis for each corresponding excitation beam is disposed between its respective dichroic filter and the block.

8. The instrument of claim 1 , further comprising a mask disposed between the block and the light emitting diode source, the mask also disposed between the block and each of the plurality of detectors, the mask comprising an optically opaque material and configured to transmit at least some light from each of the discrete excitation beams.

9. An instrument comprising:
a block configured to receive a plurality of spaced-apart reaction regions;
a light emitting source comprising at least first light source configured to produce a first excitation beam and a second light source configured to produce a second excitation beam, each excitation beam having a propagation path disposed along a propagation axis
a first detector configured to receive a first emission beam emitted from the plurality of reaction regions in response to the first excitation beam and a second detector configured to receive a second emission beam emitted from the plurality of reaction regions in response to the second excitation beam, each emission beam having a propagation path disposed along a propagation axis; and
a first lens and a second lens, each lens disposed along a respective one of the propagation paths of the excitation beams between the light emitting source and the block, wherein the lenses are configured to direct the excitation beams into spaced-apart discrete excitation beams parallel to an optical axis of the lens system, each discrete excitation beam having a propagation axis, wherein each discrete excitation beam irradiates a respective one of the plurality of spaced-apart reaction regions; and
wherein, during operation, the discrete excitation beams simultaneously illuminate the respective ones of the spaced-apart reaction regions and each discrete excitation beam propagation axis is collinear with the propagation axis of a corresponding one of the emission beams;
wherein, during operation, the propagation path of each excitation beam overlaps a corresponding one of the propagation paths of the emission beams.

10. The instrument of claim 9 , wherein the first light source comprises a first light emitting diode and the second light source comprises a second light emitting diode.

11. The instrument of claim 9 , wherein the first light source is characterized by a first range of wavelengths and a second light source is characterized by a second range of wavelengths that is different from the first range of wavelengths.

12. The instrument of claim 9 , further comprising a plurality of spaced-apart reaction regions located adjacent the block, wherein and each discrete excitation beam irradiates a respective one of the plurality of spaced-apart reaction regions separate from the reaction regions irradiated by the other discrete excitation beam(s).

13. The instrument of claim 12 , wherein the detectors comprise an array detector comprising a charge-coupled device (CCD), charge injection device (CID), a plurality of CMOS pixels, a plurality of photodiodes, or a plurality of photomultipliers.

14. The instrument of claim 13 , wherein the detector array comprises at least a first detector and a second detector, the plurality of reaction regions comprises at least first reaction region and a second reaction, the instrument comprises a first lens disposed along a first emission path between the first reaction region and a the first detector, and the instrument comprises a second lens disposed along a second emission path between the second reaction region and a the second detector.

15. The instrument of claim 14 , further comprising a plurality of respective dichroic filters corresponding to each of the excitation beams, wherein each dichroic filter is configured to transmit light from the corresponding excitation beams and reflect emission light from the corresponding emission beam, wherein a common axis for each corresponding excitation beam is disposed between its respective dichroic filter and the block.

16. The instrument of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of reaction regions comprises a plurality of sample wells.

17. The instrument of claim 9 , further comprising a mask disposed between the block and the light sources, the mask also disposed between the block and each of the detectors, the mask comprising an optically opaque material and configured to transmit at least some light from each of the discrete excitation beams.

18. An instrument comprising:
a block configured to receive a plurality of spaced-apart reaction regions;
a

Assignees

• Boege Steven J
• Oldham Mark F
• Young Eugene F
• Applied Biosystems Llc

Inventors

• Boege Steven J
• Oldham Mark F
• Young Eugene F

Classifications

• F21Y2115/10

  Light-emitting diodes [LED] · CPC title

• G01J3/10

  Arrangements of light sources specially adapted for spectrometry or colorimetry · CPC title

• G01N2201/0638

  Refractive parts · CPC title

• G01N2201/062

  LED's · CPC title

• G01N21/6452 Primary

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