Fluorescence Analysis Using Wavelength Dispersion to Reduce Pixel Count
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current fluorescence analysis methods require a large number of pixels for detection, leading to increased costs and reduced throughput due to the need for dense immobilization of biomolecules on substrates, which complicates the detection of fluorescent images from DNA fragment molecules.
Innovation Solution
The method involves immobilizing biologically-related molecules at lattice points on a substrate, dispersing fluorescence in directions away from adjacent lattice points, allowing for wavelength-dispersed detection using a reduced number of pixels, thereby improving detection efficiency and reducing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If biomolecules are densely immobilized on substrate to increase analysis throughput, then productivity is improved, but the number of pixels required for detection increases leading to higher costs and reduced ease of operation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces wavelength dispersion as an additional dimension for separating fluorescent signals. Instead of relying solely on spatial separation (x-y plane), the system disperses fluorescence by wavelength in the optical path, mapping different wavelengths to different positions on the detection plane. This dimensional transformation allows densely packed biomolecules to be resolved without requiring proportionally more detection pixels.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs an optical dispersing element (prism or diffraction grating) as an intermediary between the fluorescent molecules and the detector. This intermediary component separates the mixed fluorescent signals by wavelength before they reach the sensor, enabling the system to distinguish signals from densely immobilized biomolecules without requiring each molecule to have its own dedicated pixel.
2Device complexity
If the number of detection pixels is reduced to lower costs, then device complexity is reduced, but measurement precision may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter space by which fluorescence signals are distinguished. Instead of relying solely on spatial coordinates (x, y), the system utilizes wavelength as an additional discriminating parameter. This allows the same detector pixel to resolve multiple signals by analyzing their spectral characteristics, thereby maintaining measurement precision with fewer pixels.
Solution Approach 2:
By incorporating wavelength dispersion, the system transforms a 2D spatial detection problem into a 3D detection problem (x, y, wavelength). This additional dimension provides more information for signal discrimination, allowing accurate identification of fluorescent signals from densely packed sources even when the number of pixels is reduced.
3Ease of manufacture
If biomolecules are immobilized in random positions on substrate, then ease of manufacture is improved, but the number of pixels required increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The optical dispersing element acts as a mediator that organizes the chaotic spatial arrangement of randomly immobilized biomolecules into an ordered spectral distribution. By separating fluorescence by wavelength, the system can identify and count individual molecules regardless of their random positions on the substrate, reducing the total number of pixels needed for detection.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach reduces the number of pixels required for fluorescence analysis to a tenth to a fiftieth of conventional methods without compromising measurement accuracy, enhancing throughput and operability while lowering costs.
Implementation Method 1
an evanescent wave is generated on the surface of a transparent substrate by irradiating the substrate with an excitation light output from an excitation light source and causing the total reflection of the excitation light therein
Implementation Method 2
a scattered light of the evanescent wave generated by a specimen on the substrate is detected
Implementation Method 3
Patent Document 2 discloses a device for dispersing a fluorescence and a scattered light emitted from a specimen component excited by an evanescent wave
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention has an object to provide a method for efficiently detecting an image with a smaller number of pixels.The invention relates to fluorescence analysis which uses a substrate having a plurality of regions for being capable of immobilizing biologically-related molecules in positions of lattice points of a lattice structure, and which causes the fluorescence from a certain lattice point to be wavelength-dispersed in a direction other than the direction toward the adjacent closest lattice point. According to an embodiment, for example, the number of pixels of a two-dimensional sensor required for fluorescence analysis of the regions with the biologically-related molecules immobilized can be set to several hundred times to fifty times smaller than that in the conventional case without degrading the measurement accuracy. This can achieve the improvement of throughput, reduction in price, and/or improvement of the operability of an analyzing device.