Fluorometer with low heat-generating light source

USOO7968856B2

(12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 7,968,856 B2 Lee et al. (45) Date of Patent: Jun. 28, 2011 (54) FLUOROMETER WITH LOW (56) References Cited HEAT-GENERATING LIGHT SOURCE U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS (75) Inventors: Jerald D. Lee, Mendenliall, PA (US); 3,919,545 A 11/1975 sohoon Stanley D. Dabell, Newark, DE (US) 4,633,202 A 7/ 1937 Mullis 5,038,852 A 8/1991 Johnson et al. . 5,073,029 A 12/1991 Eb l t l. (73) Assignee: E.I. du Pont de Nemours and 5,243,540 A 9/1993 Vmiregiifelitl et ale C0mPeI1y, Wilmington, DE (US) 5,315,375 A 5/1994 Allen 5,333,675 A 8/1994 Mullis et al. ( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term ofthis 5,436,718 A * 7/1995 Fernandes et al. ............ .. 356/73 patent is extended or adjusted under 35 (Continued) U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days. FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS (21) Appl. No.: 12/387,759 EP 0902271 A2 3/1999 (Continued) (22) Filed: May 6, 2009 OTHER PUBLICATIONS (65) Pl‘i0l‘ Pllbli¢3ti0l1 Data Woolley et al., Functional Integration of PCR Amplification and Us 2009/0230323 A1 Sepe 17’ 2009 Capillary . . . ,Analytical Chemistry, 68:23, pp. 4081-4086, 1996. (Continued) Related Ulsi Application Data Primary Examiner — David P Porta (63) Continuation of application No. 12/052,212, filed on A_s3i3tantEx(1miner i David S Baker M31 20, 2008, HOW abandoned, Which is 3 (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — PotterAnderson & Corroon continuation of application No. 11/462,940, filed on LLP; Travis W_ Biiss Aug. 7, 2006, now abandoned, which is a continuation of application No. 10/863,535, filed on Jun. 8, 2004, (57) _ _ ABSTRACT _ HOW pat NO_ 7,109,495, which is a Continuation of This invention concerns a fluorometer preferably combined appiicatioii NO_ 1()/1 1 1,1 14, filed as appiicatioii NO_ with a thennal cycler useful in biochemical protocols such as PCT/US00/30771 on Nov. 9, 2000, now Pat. No. pelymerase eheiii reeetieii (PCR) and DNA melting eiiive 6,352,935 analysis. The present fluorometer features a low heat-gener_ _ _ _ ating light source such as a light emitting diode (LED), having (60) PIOVISIOHQ1 3PP11e3T1011 N0- 60/165,267, filed 011 N0V- a one-to-one correspondence to each of a plurality of sample 12, 1999- containers, such as capped PCR tubes in a standard titer tray. The fluorometer of the present invention further comprises an (51) Int, Cl, optical path between each LED and its correspondingly posiG01N 21/64 (200601) tioned container, and another optical path between each fluo(52) U.S. Cl. .................................................. .. 250/458.1 ieseiiig Sample Within the Peeiiieiied eeiiieiiier and an epiieel (58) Field of Classification Search ............. .. 250/458.1, Signet Sensing means" The mstmment ea“ be eemptitei een‘

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20 Claims, 17 Drawing Sheets

Page 2 U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS 5,475,610 A 12/1995 Atwood et al. EP 0902271 A3 3/1999 5,543,018 A 8/1996 Stevens et al. WO WO 95/30139 A1 11/1995 5,602,756 A 2/1997 Atwood et al. WO WO 00/66777 A2 11/2000 5,736,333 A 4/1998 Livak et al. 5,854,684 A 12/1998 Stabile et 51. OTHER PUBLICATIONS 5,925,884 A 7/1999 Robinson et al. _ _ _ _ _ 6,005,663 A 12/1999 Waterhouse et al‘ Belgrader et al., Rapid Pathogen Detection Using a Microchip PCR 6,043,880 A * 3/2000 Andrews et al. ............ .. 356/311 Array Instrument, Clinical Chemistry, 44:10, pp. 2191-2194, 1998. 6,046,359 A 4/2000 Raj Northrup et al., A Miniature Analytical Instrument for Nucleic Acids Q lg; Ii aslinith gi18S€;I2O2l1l:/I9l;2gOIIl€1Cl1l11€CI Silicon. . . ,Analytical Chemistry, 70:5, pp. 611791465 Bl 1/2001 Yam Ibrahim et al., Real-Time Microchip PCR for Detecting Single-Base 6,255,118 B1 7/2001 Alfano et al. D-ff - V- al dH DNA An 1 - - , i erences in ir an uman , a ytical Chemistry, 70.9, 6,361,672 B1 3/2002 Zhu et al. 2013 2017 1998 6,444,461 Bl 9/2002 Knapp et 51. PP" .' 1 " . . . . 6,825,927 B2 11/2004 Goldman et 31‘ International Search Report in International Application No. PCT/ 6,852,986 B1 2/2005 Lee et aj_ US2000/030771, mailed Mar. 15, 2001. _ 7,109,495 B2 9/2006 Lee et 51' Non-Final Office Action in U.S. Appl. No. 11/462,940, mailed Sep. 2003/0016352 A1* 1/2003 Goldman et al. ........... .. 356/317 25, 2007. 2003/0175813 A1 9/2003 Pantoliano et al. Non-Final Office Action in U.S. Appl. No. 12/052,212, mailed Nov. 2006/0082768 A1 4/2006 Wilson et al. 6,2008. 11. 2007/0194246 A1 8/2007 Lee et al. 2008/0212090 Al 9/2008 Lee et al. * cited by examiner

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