OPTICS FOR BIOPHOTONICS: Multivariate optical elements beat bandpass filters in fluorescence analysis

摘要

For cytometry and pathology assays, multivariate optical elements (MOEs) can detect and measure a complex chemical signature in the presence of a strongly interfering fluorescent matrix with high sensitivity and specificity. Life science assays such as flow cytometry, tissue staining, polymerase chain reaction, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) use fluorescent tagging or labeling techniques with fluorochromes, dyes, or quantum dots as the mechanism for analyte detection or discrimination. Commercially available antibodies directly conjugated to highly purified fluorochromes offer a wide variety of target specificities and color options, with the success of a multiparameter fluorescent assay fundamentally dependent on the selection of fluorescent labels. The optical subsystem for detecting the fluorescent labels is basically a filter photometer in which an excitation light source--laser or light-emitting diode (LED)--induces fluorescence of the taggant molecules at the sample. Fluorescence signals are collected by relay optics, passed through optical bandpass filters, and ultimately detected by a photodiode or photomultiplier tube.