US 7276368 B2
The present invention provides an optical assay apparatus that includes a light source module and an optical sensor. The light source module produces light having a range of propagation angles. The sensor includes a light adjusting portion and an assay sensing portion. The light adjusting portion receives the light produced by the light source module and provides light having a propagation angle that is substantially constant to the assay sensing portion. In one embodiment, the sensor may be coupled with the light source module by an interrogation module which includes a window in which a waveguide is integrated. In another embodiment, the sensor and interrogation module are mounted in an automated assay platform that provides two-dimensional or three-dimensional movement of the sensor so that it can be sequentially immersed in solutions required to perform a particular assay protocol. While the sensor is immersed in a particular liquid, the system provides oscillatory movement of the sensor and/or rotary movement of the contacted liquid to increase evanescent wave region reaction rates with targeted analytes and/or reagents.
1. An automated system for performing an assay to detect an analyte in a sample fluid; wherein said automated system comprises:
a robotic transporter;
a light source module operable to produce an output of excitation light rays having respective wavelengths;
an optical sensor carried by said robotic transporter for automatic movement of said optical sensor by said robotic transporter; wherein said optical sensor is optically coupled with said light source module to receive at least some of said excitation light rays produced by said light source module; wherein said optical sensor comprises a sensing waveguide and a sensor chemistry coating on said sensing waveguide; wherein, during said assay, said sensor chemistry coating comprises a fluorophore, at least some of said excitation light rays from said light source module pass through said sensing waveguide and create an evanescent electric field in said sensor chemistry coating, said fluorophore emits an output of signal recovery light rays in response to said evanescent electric field as a function of a presence of said analyte in said sample fluid, and said sensing waveguide transports a collected portion of said signal recovery light rays;
an interrogation module optically coupled with said optical sensor and operable to receive from said sensing waveguide at least some of said collected portion of said signal recovery light rays; wherein said interrogation module generates a corresponding output signal from said signal recovery light rays received by said interrogation module from said sensing waveguide; wherein said automated system further comprises at least one assay station that is selected from the group consisting of a sample station, a washing station and a reagent station; wherein, during said assay, said sample station, said washing station and said reagent station are operable to contain a respective fluid, namely, said sample fluid, a washing fluid and a reagent fluid comprising a fluorophore-labeled reagent that is labeled with said fluorophore; and
wherein, during said assay, said robotic transporter is operable to automatically move said optical sensor into a position over said respective fluid in said at least one assay station, to then automatically move said optical sensor towards said respective fluid in said at least one assay station until said sensor chemistry coating on said sensing waveguide is immersed in said respective fluid in said at least one assay station, and to then automatically remove said optical sensor from said respective fluid in said at least one assay station, to eliminate a need to transfer said respective fluid into or out of said at least one assay station while said assay is being performed.
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This application is the National Stage of International Application No. PCT/US02/03356 filed Feb. 1, 2002 which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/265,605, filed Feb. 2, 2001.
This invention relates generally to optical methods and apparatus for chemical and biochemical assays, and more particularly to fiber optics-based methods and apparatus for such assays.
There exists a need for a highly sensitive and specific technology directed to the detection of human pathogens and toxins in food, water, and the environment. It is very difficult to effectively detect organisms in natural fluids such as milk, blood, sewage and meat products at low concentration and to discriminate between pathogenic and harmless species. Conventional bioassay methods are commonly designed for samples on the order of a few cubic centimeters, and the extraction or concentration of pathogenic material from larger volumes to met sensitivity requirements creates additional challenges.
One of the most promising strategies for performing pathogen assays on raw, unpurified samples is based on sensors that harness biological ligand-receptor interactions to identify specific compounds. Examples of approaches that implement such a strategy include fiber optic evanescent wave sensors and surface plasmon resonance sensors.
An electromagnetic wave, traveling through one material, that is reflected at a dielectric interface produces an exponentially decaying electric field within the second material on the opposite side of the interface. At optical frequencies this is termed the evanescent wave effect, and at radio frequencies this phenomenon is often called a “skin effect.” The penetration depth within the second material, the evanescent wave region, is a small fraction of a wavelength, yet greater in size than most optical labels 100 such as light- or fluorescence-producing reporter molecules, light-absorbing or scattering molecules, and colloidal particles and microspheres. These labels can be used to monitor or produce optical changes in the evanescent region, or modify the propagation of light in the adjacent dielectric, providing a fundamental means of detecting target materials that are close to the surface while discriminating against those far away. In particular, by coating the interface with a capture agent that is specific for a microscopic or molecular target of interest, exquisitely sensitive optical-based sensors can be created.
In one competitive assay technique, fluorophore-labeled antigen 104, together with the sample to be tested, is exposed to the coating of capture antibody on the fiber, and the labeled antigen competes for antibody binding sites with non-tagged analyte 106 in the test sample. The evanescent field produced by light 108 passing through the fiber 102 then excites the fluorophores into light emission 110, and the fiber itself conveniently acts as a return waveguide for the fluorescent signal. In this example, the strength of the fluorescent signal is inversely related to the analyte concentration in the test sample. Alternatively, a non-competitive technique, such as a sandwich-format assay, can be used, in which case the fluorescent signal is directly related to the analyte concentration in the test sample. High sensitivity and specificity can be achieved for a wide range of metals, toxins, proteins, viruses, living and dead bacteria, and spores, through the use of bound target-specific agents 100 such as chelating agents, antibodies, crown ethers and the like, combined with appropriate optical labels that luminesce, fluoresce or alter light transport by the waveguide. In applications where pathogens will be infrequently found, cost per assay may be low since the sensor remains active until the capture agents have been substantially neutralized by-the binding of the target material.
For surface plasmon resonance sensing,
Fiber optic evanescent wave sensors are the subject of a number of U.S. patents, including the following, the disclosures of each being incorporated herein by reference: U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,546, to Hirschfeld et al., entitled “Fluorescent Immunoassay Employing Optical Fiber in Capillary Tube”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,014, to Hirschfeld et al., entitled “Assay Apparatus and Method”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,809, to Block et al., entitled “Apparatus Including Optical Fiber for Fluorescence Immunoassay”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,532, to Hirschfeld, entitled “Apparatus for Improving the Numerical Aperture at the Input of a Fiber Optic Devices”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,716,121, to Block et al., entitled “Fluorescent Assays, Including Immunoassays, with Feature of Flowing Sample”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,990, to Block et al., entitled “Immunoassay Apparatus”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,797, to Hirschfeld, entitled “Nucleic Acid Assay Method”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,857, to Thompson et al., entitled “Waveguide-Binding Sensor for Use With Assays”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,813, Anderson et al., entitled “Mode-Matched, Combination Taper Fiber Optic Probe”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,962, to Lackie, entitled “Immunoassay Apparatus”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,290,398, to Feldman et al., entitled “Synthesis of Tapers for Fiber Optic Sensors”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,866, to Feldman et al., entitled “Optical System for Detection of Signal in Fluorescent Immunoassay.” Fiber optic surface plasmon resonance sensors are the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,681 to Jorgenson et al., entitled “Fiber Optic Sensor and Methods and Apparatus Relating Thereto,” the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
For evanescent wave sensors, it is desirable to optimize the magnitude of the evanescent electric field as well as to optimize the optical properties of the return path for the detected fluorescence. The above-identified patents describe numerous optimization approaches, including attempts to match the numerical aperture of various system components and to improve system numerical-aperture. Numerical aperture is a measure of the largest angle, relative to the optical axis of a system, that a ray of light can have and still pass through the system. Each component in an optical system will have its own unique limiting numerical aperture, and the maximum system numerical aperture will be determined by the system component having the lowest numerical aperture. The system numerical aperture is a key parameter in optical sensing since transferred power is typically proportional to its square. Good design practice and cost efficiencies require system components to have matching numerical apertures.
One well-known approach of matching numerical apertures employs tapered or cone-shaped waveguides. In addition to providing numerical aperture matching, tapering the active, analyte-sensitive portion of the optical fiber maintains a substantial fraction of the input light near the critical angle, thereby maintaining a high magnitude evanescent field. However, there is also a constant loss of light along the sensor fiber as the taper acts upon rays that are already only weakly guided and causes them to exceed the critical angle.
In order for white light to propagate in an optical fiber used in connection with a surface plasmon resonance sensor, the fiber must have a large enough diameter to support the longest wavelength of light. Also, a large diameter fiber propagates higher numerical aperture light, which makes it easier to excite surface plasmon waves in metal films of a thickness readily fabricated by conventional processes. As a consequence, multi-mode fibers are used which propagate light over a range of angles. However, this range of angles results in a less distinct resonance effect, because each angle of propagation results in a different resonance wavelength.
The first evanescent waveguide sensors, described in the early 1980's, were for substantially cylindrical waveguides, that is, waveguides with circular cross-sections in which light uniformly filled the entire cross-sectional area. Recent development has strongly emphasized planar waveguides excited by collimated light beams. In these devices, light is only contained in one dimension and lateral spreading is totally defined by excitation optics. This substantial shift has occurred primarily due to an interest in creating multianalyte assay arrays by printing a linear or two-dimensional pattern of capture agent spots on one surface of the planar waveguide within the illumination path of the light beam, and then monitoring for an optical signal from individual analyte-specific spots with a CCD detector array or photomultiplier on the other side of the slab waveguide.
However, the planar approach has some other weaknesses in addition to its limited light guiding ability. Due to the typically small size of individual assay spots it is a challenge to effectively contact each dot with the entire fluid sample. This is of particular significance when foodstuffs are tested for pathogens. Regulations may require, because of high health risks at extremely low pathogen levels, that assay samples of 300 cubic centimeters or more be utilized. By way of example, the acceptance limit set by the US Department of Agriculture for Escherichia coil O157:H7 is one organism per 25 gm of sample. It is very difficult to effectively detect organisms at such a low concentration with methods based on bioassay dots of typically 1 mm^2 or less area. In addition, sample heterogeneity becomes an issue when raw food samples are examined. Fat globules and other non-toxic components may adhere non-specifically to the sensor or physically block contact with the target, reducing the effective sensitivity. Samples may also be viscous which increases the mass transfer boundary layer thickness and decreases the diffusive mass transport rates. These factors may yield low signal levels and create poor assay statistics where the target is a low, yet lethal concentration of a human or animal pathogen.
Analyte mass-diffusion boundary layers are also typically thicker for planar structures than for solids of revolution, such as cylinders. For related reasons a planar geometry may be more difficult to clean if the assay involves a multi-step protocol such as a sandwich immunoassay, or if it is desired to reuse the sensor. Finally, for applications such as food safety the number of target pathogens may be only one to six, calling into question the value of low sensitivity array techniques that require sophisticated and possibly costly CCD or photomultiplier signal recovery techniques.
Although evanescent wave and surface plasmon resonance sensors show great promise for use in medical and food safety applications, those skilled in the art understand that the current technology is less than optimal in a number of respects, including those disadvantages identified above.
In accordance with the present invention, an optical assay apparatus includes a light source module and an optical sensor. The light source module produces light having a range of propagation angles. The sensor includes a light adjusting portion and an assay sensing portion. The light adjusting portion receives the light produced by the light source module and provides light having a propagation angle that is substantially constant to the assay sensing portion.
In one embodiment, the light source module produces light having propagation angles ranging from a lower, non-zero limit. This may be accomplished by including an obscuration which blocks light having propagation angles below this limit. In one embodiment, the light adjusting portion of the sensor may include a reflector which receives, as incident light, the light produced by the light source module and produces, as reflected light, the light having a substantially constant propagation angle. The assay sensing portion of the sensor may be a waveguide coated with sensor molecules suitable for performing evanescent wave sensing operations, or may be a waveguide coated with a thin metallic film suitable for performing surface plasmon resonance sensing operations.
In one embodiment, the sensor may be coupled with the light source module by an interrogation module which includes a window in which a waveguide is integrated. The waveguide transmits the light produced by the light source module to the sensor. The waveguide may be an optical fiber with an angled end having a reflective surface to create a right-angle reflector. The waveguide may be embedded in the window in a slot containing an opaque material to prevent back-scattering of excitation light from the waveguide into optical components included within the interrogation module.
In one embodiment, the sensor and interrogation module are mounted in an automated assay platform that provides two-dimensional or three-dimensional movement of the sensor so that it can be sequentially immersed in solutions required to perform a particular assay protocol. While the sensor is immersed in a particular liquid, the system provides oscillatory movement of the sensor and/or rotary movement of the contacted liquid to increase evanescent wave region reaction rates with targeted analytes and/or reagents.
The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
An optical assay apparatus and method is described, with certain specific details set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. However, one skilled in the art will understand that the present invention may be practiced without these details. In other instances, well-known structures and operations are not shown or discussed in detail in order to avoid obscuring the description of the embodiments of the invention.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the assay system depicted in
In one embodiment, the laser diode 46 is a commercially available visible laser diode in a standard 9 mm package, operating in the 600 nm to 700 nm waveband and producing an average power of about 1 mW or more. The numerical aperture-adjusting lens 52 is a 3 mm diameter, 0.25 pitch graded refractive index (GRIN) lens. The source fiber 38 is a 200 micron core-diameter optical fiber, which is preferably made of a transmission material such as glass or quartz, since such material generates minimal self-fluorescence and has low scattering losses. However, plastic fibers or other waveguides may be suitable, especially if the distance from the light source module 34 to the sensing element 22 (see
The interrogation module window 60 includes a laser-line rejection filter film 66 deposited onto one face of a glass plate 67. The primary function of the filter film 66 is to exclude any flare light associated with the excitation light 30 from reaching the optical components included within the interrogation module 40, while providing an unimpeded path for the longer wavelength fluorescent signal recovery light 32 (see
Referring to both
Both the adhesive and cover plate 76 should be selected to have refractive indices that are approximately the same as the cladding of the source fiber 38 to minimize aberration in the projected beam. Since the excitation light 30 must, upon reflection from the right-angle reflector 58, pass through the cylindrical wall of the source fiber 38, the fiber's wall would otherwise act as a cylindrical lens and distort the shape of the emitted excitation light beam. The opaque material 72, together with the obscuration 68, absorbs any excitation light spilled from defects in the mirror coating at the right-angle reflector 58 or reflected at the interface where the excitation light 30 first enters the lens portion 24 of the sensing element 22.
The sensing element 22, discussed above in connection with
As described above in connection with the current state of the art, light provided by an excitation source is composed of an equilibrium distribution of ray propagation angles and tapered fiber sections are oftentimes used to match numerical apertures to a level compatible with a sensing fiber when immersed in a fluid sample. However, this approach wastes significant input energy because the angular characteristics of most of the light rays are such that they contribute only weakly to the evanescent electric field strength. Other attempts use a taper along the fill length of the sensing fiber, thereby transforming low propagation angle rays at some point along the fiber to higher propagation angle rays that-can contribute to the evanescent electric field. However, for these rays at lower angles to be productive, rays initially having larger propagation angles must necessarily have been lost. The continual upgrading of lower propagation angle rays by the fiber taper is obtained at the penalty of excitation-light leakage along the fiber's length. This means that assay sensitivity is variable along the fiber, which can cause calibration problems. Also, light leaking from the fiber into the exterior sample could lead to fluorescence excitation of the sample itself, instead of solely from bound fluorophore molecules.
Ideally, all incoming excitation rays should be very nearly at the critical angle of a sensing fiber to maximize the evanescent electric field strength, thereby maximizing the fluorescence output by any fluorophore molecules bound to the fiber. Also, the sensing fiber should be of essentially constant diameter so that the sensitivity per unit length is constant, and with light leakage to the external environment minimized. As a practical matter, a slightly tapered sensing fiber may be required as a consequence of manufacturing processes, such as fabrication by injection molding. Typically, a taper of approximately 0.02.degree. is sufficient to assure defect-free removal of a fiber from an injection mold, and such a taper has essentially negligible optical effects. Embodiments of the present invention can provide a near-ideal situation, primarily due to characteristics of the reflector portion 26 of the sensing element 22.
The shape of the desired reflective surface 27 is defined by a rotation about the optical axis 45 of a curve 27A shown in
The numerical aperture for a polystyrene waveguide immersed in water is about 0.856. Light rays directed at larger propagation angles will leak into the surrounding water. The greatest evanescent electric field strengths will then be produced when the excitation light propagation angle is very near the critical angle. The refractive index of polystyrene in the 600-700 nm waveband is about 1.584 leading to a critical angle of about 32.7.degree. relative to the optical axis. As a matter of practical design, however, it may well be better to use a lower propagation angle to compensate for effects of possible misalignment associated with manufacturing tolerances, etc. A design propagation angle of approximately 2.degree. less than the critical angle is readily achieved and yields satisfactory results.
As shown in
A further improvement is provided by the central obscuration 56 used in the light source module 34 shown in
The fraction of signal recovery light 32 that has comparatively low propagation angles exits the sensing fiber portion 28 and passes directly through the lens 24 of the sensing element 22. The surface of the lens portion 24 and its axial placement are such that these rays emerge from the sensing fiber 28 approximately at the focal point of the lens, thereby exiting from the lens in a collimated condition. However, a second and typically larger fraction of the signal recovery light 32 exits the sensing fiber portion 28 at large propagation angles. Many of these rays then advantageously strike the reflecting surface 27 of the reflector 26, which reflects this higher propagation angle light into the lens 24, and thereafter into the optical systems included within the interrogation module 40, thereby collecting a substantial portion of recovered signal light that would have otherwise been lost. Ray modeling studies indicate that over 90% of the signal recovery light emitted from the sensing fiber 28 reaches the photodetector 64.
Any of numerous types of long-pass or band-pass filter designs may be employed for filter film 66, such as thin-film interference filters and optical crystals which can be made to transmit wavelengths above a critical wavelength and block wavelengths below that critical wavelength, or transmit within a waveband and reject over a second waveband. The simplest and most cost-effective filter film 66 may be a long-pass dichroic filter with specified filter characteristics that can be purchased from Optical Coating Laboratories of Santa Barbara, Calif. However, additional excitation blocking can be obtained in the exemplary waveband by using a spectrally-absorbing colored filter in combination with filter film 66, e.g., making plate 67 from a long-pass bulk filter material such as RG-645 or RG-665 sharp cut glass, manufactured by Schott Glass Technologies of Duryea, Pa; or R-62, R-64, R-66, or R-68 sharp-cut filter material from Hoya Corporation; or from an organic-dyed polymer filter material exhibiting strong absorbance at the laser wavelength and low absorbance over at least a part of the fluorescence emission waveband. As previously discussed, thin-film filters as a class are not effective at attenuating rays making steep angles to the optical axis 45, whereas colored filters are, thereby providing complementary function.
With solid state laser diode excitation sources 46 commercially available in the 600 to 700 nm waveband (e.g., 638, 645, 658 nm), excitation flare may be reduced by a factor of about 1000 to 10000 times using a long-pass filter combination that exhibits 50% transmission at a wavelength about 25 nm and longer beyond the laser's emission wavelength. When excitation blocking levels of this magnitude have been reached, residual flare light levels are strongly influenced by optical defects and material inhomogeneities and may have strong fluorescence and Raman components from the laser diode and other excitation optics components subjected to high light intensities. The signal-to-noise ratio may, at this point, be most effectively influenced by placement of a laser bandpass filter in light source 34 to prevent fluorescence emission, by changing the waveguide material and its purity, by improving the optical surface quality of sensing element 22, and by moving to excitation wavelengths that do not generate strong non-signal light levels in the optical interrogation module 40. For most dielectric materials, fluorescence and internal backscattering decrease rapidly as the operating waveband is moved to longer wavelengths. To detect small fluorescence signals above these background effects, it may then be preferable to operate at the longest wavelength for which stable, high efficiency fluorophores are available.
One family of suitable molecules are the aluminum phthalocyanine compounds, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,793 to Schindele, et al., entitled “Monomeric Phthalocycanine Reagents”. A second family of suitable molecules are the Alexa Fluor dyes available from Molecular Probes, Eugene Oreg. A third family of suitable molecules are the CyDye cyanine dyes available from. Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Inc., Piscataway, N.J.
With this understood, to obtain the best signal-to-noise ratio in a fluorescence-based evanescent-wave sensing system using inexpensive off-the-shelf excitation sources, it can be concluded from
The light that passes through the interrogation module window 60 and which has been filtered of excitation light is focused by a short focal length lens onto a suitable low-noise photodetector 64. Any lens of high light-gathering power may be used, with a particularly effective and compact design being created by a sapphire or high-index glass sphere of 1 to 10 mm diameter. Sapphire spheres of optical quality may be purchased from Edmund Scientific of Barrington, N.J. A solid-state photodiode is a suitable photodetector 64, since it is small, consumes no power, and has low noise. Light falling on the photodetector 64 is then converted to a photocurrent, which in turn is converted to a voltage using standard small-signal electronic amplification methods, such as synchronous detection. Using a 6 mm sapphire ball lens; a low-noise photodiode, type S4707-01 from Hammatsu, Inc. of Bridgewater, N.J.; and a synchronous detection amplification technique operating at an optimum chopping frequency of 135 Hz; an extremely favorable photocurrent sensitivity of 0.025 pA was realized.
Although much of the discussion above focuses on applications to evanescent-wave-based sensors, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the sensing element 22 may be suitably adapted for use in a surface plasmon resonance sensor. The ability to convert various propagation angles of light into an approximately constant propagation angle for transmission into a optical fiber is particularly advantageous for surface plasmon resonance techniques. As described above, in connection with the current state of the art, the detected resonance spectrum for currently available surface plasmon resonance sensors is the superposition of resonance spectra associated with light at various propagation angles transmitted down the sensing fiber. If, instead, light of essentially a single propagation angle is used, the resonance effect in the transmitted spectrum is much better defined, is more easily detected, and affords better quantitative analysis.
The assay system described above is readily adapted for use with surface plasmon resonance sensing operations. A light source module producing white light can be coupled to the sensing element 22 by a source fiber, an interrogation module, and an interrogation window, of substantially similar configuration to the above-described source fiber 38, interrogation module 40, and interrogation module window 60. If the surface plasmon resonance sensor fiber 114 includes a mirror 122 for returning signal light (see
Removal of low propagation angle light, as in the use of the obscuration 56 of
In accordance with ready adaptations of the embodiments described above, high numerical aperture light of approximately a constant propagation angle can be provided to a surface plasmon wave sensor.
At the time of use, the card 80 is inserted into an assay unit (
The sensing element 22 is ideally suited for use in an immersion-type assay protocol, either alone or as one element of an array of evanescent-wave probes. An immersion protocol is defined as a procedure wherein an elongate rigid sensor, such as a cylindrical waveguide, is physically immersed in one or more liquids, at least one of which contains the target substance. Optionally, the protocol may involve immersion of the waveguide in one or more additional fluids; for cleaning purposes; to create luminescence; to create or modify fluorescence in the evanescent region of the waveguide; or to modify transported optical power in the waveguide.
Many assay systems and protocols use disposable modules analogous to assay card 80 where about 1 cc or less of fluid is introduced into a fluidic structure that includes the sensing element array. An immersion protocol, however, has advantages in food safety, environmental and medical applications where the target pathogen concentration is very low or the sample is heterogenous, viscous or contains components that may foul assay apparatus. Examples of such substances include whole blood, liquefied stool samples, sewage, milk, and homogenized meat and sausage. In these cases, available sample volumes may be quite large while the acceptable pathogen level may be very low. In this situation it may be desirable to use an immersion-type assay on a large sample volume and provide means for the detector to execute a sampling pattern within the volume to improve sampling statistics. This may also better control or prevent the spread of contaminated media into complex and expensive assay fluidics that might otherwise be necessary.
Of particular interest for the detection of human pathogens in food, water and the environment is the sandwich format fluoroimmunoassay. In a typical waveguide-based sandwich immunoassay, the waveguide has a monolayer of a biological recognition element, such as capture antibody 100 immobilized on its surface as shown in
At the time of use, the waveguide is first incubated with the fluid sample that may contain the target antigen for about 1 to 5 minutes. After a wash step, the waveguide is incubated in contact with a fluorophore-labeled antibody for 1 to 5 minutes to form an antibody/antigen/labeled-antibody sandwich that will fluoresce when excitation light is passed through the waveguide.
One embodiment of an automated apparatus 500 for performing sandwich format immunoassays is shown in
An assay-performing apparatus 500 for performing sandwich format fluoroimmunoassays may include an assay module 504 below the robotic arm 501 that provides three stations for performing individual assay steps; a sample station 505 for sample incubation; a washing station 506 for waveguide 28 washing, and a reagent station 507 for incubation of the waveguide 28 in a solution of fluorophore-labeled antibody reagent. To perform an assay, the robotic arm 501 first moves the waveguide 28 array to sample station 506 and immerses the array (each element of which has been coated with a capture antibody by one skilled in the art) into a disposable cup 513 of about 1 to 500 cc which has been filled with the fluid sample 510 to be examined. The array is incubated in the sample fluid 510 for a predetermined time. During this time, each waveguide 28 may be moved through a predetermined pattern by the robotic arm 501 (or by a manner to be described at a later point), so as to contact the sample volume in a statistically valid manner. Since there may be only one target material of interest, the six waveguides in this example may be coated with the same capture antibody and it is apparent that a multiwell cup holder could be provided (not shown) to increase sample throughput. Six appropriately-sized and shaped pockets would be provided in such a cup holder for six different fluid samples 510.
Referring again to
Upon completion of this baseline measurement, robotic arm 501 moves the waveguide 28 array to a reagent station 507. Located at this station are a set of six nominally 0.1 to 5 cc disposable vials 515 which contain fluorophore-labeled antibody solutions 512 a through 512 f (
During a predetermined incubation period, the waveguide 28 array is periodically or continuously interrogated to monitor fluorescence signal levels. After incubation is completed, the robotic arm 501 may move the waveguide 28 array to the wash station 506, and immerse and wash the waveguides with oscillatory motion to remove any antibody reagent residues. Signal levels may be measured again at this point.
This protocol provides at least three methods for determining target material concentration. Target concentration may be monotonically related to signal rate-of-change immediately after immersion in the fluorophore-labeled reagent vials; to the change in signal level experienced during fluorophore-labeled reagent incubation; and to the change in baseline signal level as measured in the wash fluid 509, before and after fluorophore-labeled reagent incubation. The first method provides an early response, the second method may provide increased accuracy, while the third technique requires more time but allows sensitive measurements to be made even when the fluorophore-labeled reagent is strongly fluorescent.
Three-step luminescent and fluorescent assays performed on assay platform 500 are well-suited for measuring trace constituents in difficult samples such as whole blood, liquefied stool samples, sewage, milk, and homogenized meat and food products, since most contaminants are flushed off the waveguide 28 before it is immersed in the light- or fluorescence-producing reagent, allowing high sensitivity measurements to be made with minimal sample preparation. Only the distal portion of a small diameter waveguide 28 actually contacts the potentially contaminated samples, and fluids are stored in disposable cups or vials, resulting in a system that is easily maintained and used.
Extraneous room light may adversely affect low-level optical signal measurements and to prevent this from occurring, a noncontacting light-excluding labyrinth seal 520 may be used between assay module 504 and optics module 502, as shown in
The geometric characteristics of optical sensing element 22 are optimal for immersion assays. There is a linear relationship between signal strength and waveguide 28 immersion depth, but no corresponding relationship between signal strength and the amount of waveguide 28 protruding above the sample fluid 508 surface. This means that the interface between the optical sensing element 22 and optical interrogation module 40 can be remote from fluid contact, allowing that interface to be kept optically clean. However, an extremely long waveguide is not desirable as it may impact on mass transfer enhancement methods by making the waveguide too flexible.
A distinct advantage of the waveguide-based immersion assay method is that significant transverse fluid velocities can be generated. It is well-known to those skilled in heat and mass transfer that very high heat and mass transfer rates are possible when heat or mass is being transferred to a small-diameter cylinder or ellipse in cross-flow. This is attributable to a greatly reduced mass transfer boundary layer thickness in cross-flow due to short fluid element residence times. This means the target species can penetrate closer to the object's surface and, when applied to a bioassay, will have a higher probability of reacting with constituents such as capture antibodies in the evanescent layer. By contrast, it is very difficult to enhance mass transfer in a coaxial flow geometry such as in assay card 80 because flow is typically laminar and a thick mass transfer boundary layer builds up at the waveguide 28 surface because of the parallel flow geometry and long fluid contact time.
One method for mass transfer enhancement with assay-performing apparatus 500 has been previously described, namely oscillatory lateral movement of waveguide 28. A second method particularly suited to large homogenized food samples is to modify sample station 505 to provide rotary motion of sample cup 513.
Rotational rates and mass transfer enhancement may be limited to a perimeter velocity of about 25 cm/sec for simple cups. At that perimeter velocity a water-based sample fluid 510 will climb up the cup wall about 0.25 cm, and may spill over the cup's edge. Considerably higher perimeter velocities can be reached with the annular cup 540 shown in
Where f is the rotational rate and R0 and R1 are the inner and outer radii of the annular space, respectively. As a nonlimiting example, if the outer radius is 2.35 cm and the inner radius is 1.85 cm, then for a maximum tolerable climb height of 2.5 mm, the calculated maximum permissible velocity increases by a factor of 1.7 times. An experimental test under these conditions yielded a higher velocity enhancement, of 2.0 times. This was due in part to a surface tension-related leveling that occurs with small gaps, a beneficial effect which is not included in the previous equation.
It will be appreciated that, although embodiments of the invention have been described for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example,
As another example, any of a variety of lens configurations can be functionally substituted for the GRIN lens 52 described in connection with
Particular optical structures, such as optical fibers, refractive surfaces and reflective surfaces have been described in connection with certain embodiments of the present invention. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate any number of light-directing media and devices which can be suitably adapted and combined to achieve the above-described effects and functions. For example, any of a wide variety of waveguides may be adapted for use as sensing elements. Also, metallized mirror reflecting surfaces may be substituted for the described dielectric surfaces. Reflective surfaces may be substituted for refractive surfaces, and vice versa The above-described embodiment of the reflector 26, whether alone or in combination with the lens 24, functions essentially as a light redirection device, which adjusts or otherwise modifies the propagation angle of light. The above-described embodiment of the light source module 34 includes, by virtue of features associated with the described lens 52 and obscuration 56, a light selection functionality in which certain ranges of light propagation angles may be blocked, passed, or otherwise selected for provision to subsequent light processing components. The above-described embodiments of the source fiber 38 and, in part, the sensing fiber 28 function as light transfer devices. Those skilled in the at will appreciate that a wide variety of alternative media, elements, and devices can be functionally substituted for these particular described embodiments.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various embodiments of the invention may be applied in fields other than assay methods and apparatus. Additionally, distinguishing between components such as a light source module and sensing element is somewhat arbitrary, since certain of the features described in connection with the sensing element could be suitably adapted to form a part of a light source module. Further, although the description above identifies “optical” features and effects, the invention encompasses any of a wide variety of equivalent features and effects associated with other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, including light other than visible light.
These and other variations can be made to the invention in light of the detailed description above. In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification, but should be construed to include all energy-directing media and devices that operate under the claims to provide associated signal transfer, retention, and detection characteristics. Accordingly, the invention is not limited by the disclosure, but instead its scope is to be determined entirely by the following claims.
While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.