Fiber optic sensor with encoded microspheres
US6023540A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 14, 1997 |
| Grant date | Feb 8, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 14, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S435/808
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A microsphere-based analytic chemistry system is disclosed in which microspheres carrying different chemical functionalities may be mixed together while the ability is retained to identify the functionality on each bead using an optically interrogatable encoding scheme. An optical fiber bundle sensor is also disclosed in which the separate microspheres may be optically coupled to discrete fibers or groups of fibers within the bundle. The functionalies are encoded on the separate microspheres using fluorescent dyes and then affixed to wells etched in the end of the bundle. Thus, a single sensor may carry thousands of chemistries. Only those microspheres exhibiting reactions then need to be decoded to identify the corresponding functionality.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.