Instrument for monitoring polymerase chain reaction of DNA
US6818437B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 29, 2001 |
| Grant date | Nov 16, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 29, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N2201/068
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An optical instrument monitors PCR replication of DNA in a reaction apparatus having a temperature cycled block with vials of reaction ingredients including dye that fluoresces in presence of double-stranded DNA. A beam splitter passes an excitation beam to the vials to fluoresce the dye. An emission beam from the dye is passed by the beam splitter to a CCD detector from which a processor computes DNA concentration. A reference strip with a plurality of reference emitters emit reference beams of different intensity, from which the processor selects an optimum emitter for compensating for drift. Exposure time is automatically adjusted for keeping within optimum dynamic ranges of the CCD and processor. A module of the beam splitter and associated optical filters is associated with selected dye, and is replaceable for different dyes.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.