Methods and apparatus for measuring analytes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9618475-B2
Application number	US-201013823494-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 15, 2010
Priority date	Sep 15, 2010
Publication date	Apr 11, 2017
Grant date	Apr 11, 2017

Abstract

Methods and apparatus relating to FET arrays including large FET arrays for monitoring chemical and/or biological reactions such as nucleic acid sequencing-by-synthesis reactions. Some methods provided herein relate to improving signal (and also signal to noise ratio) from released hydrogen ions during nucleic acid sequencing reactions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for chemical analysis comprising:
an array of pixels having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each of the pixels having a reaction area and a chemically sensitive sensor that provides an analog output indicative of a reaction occurring proximate to the reaction area for the pixel;
a selection circuit arranged to select at least one of the rows;
a plurality of column circuits, each column circuit arranged to receive the analog output from a selected row during a first sampling period;
a multiplexer to receive a plurality of analog outputs from the array of pixels via the plurality of column circuits;
an analog to digital conversion circuit to
receive the plurality of analog outputs from the multiplexer,
sample the analog outputs from the multiplexer at a second rate that is greater than the first rate, and
generate a series of samples for each of the analog outputs at the second rate for a second sampling period that corresponds to the first sampling period; and

an estimation device to receive the series of samples and determine an estimated pixel value from the series of samples during the first sampling period, wherein
the analog output changes gradually to reach a final pixel value during the first sampling period as reactions within the reaction area are sensed by the chemically sensitive sensor and the estimated pixel value is an estimation of the final pixel value.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a framing device that forms a frame from the estimated pixel values from at least a portion of the array of pixels at a predetermined time period.

3. The system of claim 2 further comprising:
a condensing device that takes the predetermined number of frames within a predetermined time period and reduces them to a reduced number of frames for the predetermined time period.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the reduced number of frames is created through averaging.

5. The system of claim 3 further comprising:
a storage device for storing the reduced number of frames.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the chemically sensitive sensors are ion sensitive sensors.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the first sampling period is a time period that is too short for the output signal from the chemical sensors to reach their final value.

Assignees

• Rothberg Jonathan
• Rearick Todd
• Life Technologies Corp

Inventors

• Rothberg Jonathan
• Rearick Todd

Classifications

• G01N27/4148 Primary

  Integrated circuits therefor, e.g. fabricated by CMOS processing · CPC title

• G01N27/4145 Primary

  specially adapted for biomolecules, e.g. gate electrode with immobilised receptors · CPC title

• C12Q1/6874

  involving nucleic acid arrays, e.g. sequencing by hybridisation · CPC title