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EP-4739998-A1 - OPTICAL DEVICE FOR TAKING FLUORESCENCE AND ABSORBANCE MEASUREMENTS

EP4739998A1EP 4739998 A1EP4739998 A1EP 4739998A1EP-4739998-A1

Abstract

The present document relates to an optical device configured to measure fluorescence and absorbance in an immunoassay and in wet chemistry, comprising: - an illuminator channel (26) comprising at least one excitation source (28), - a detector channel (34) comprising at least one sensor (36), - a cuvette (130) containing a sample (132) between the illuminator channel (26) and the detector channel (34), - a mixer (38) of optical light between the illuminator channel (26) and the cuvette (130) and a beam splitter (40) between the cuvette (130) and the detector channel (34).

Inventors

  • ROSSI, Veronica
  • FERORELLI, Guiseppe
  • Sanesi, Antonio

Assignees

  • BIOMERIEUX

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240702

Claims (10)

  1. 1. An optical device configured to measure fluorescence and absorbance in an immunoassay and/or wet chemistry sample comprising: an illuminator channel (26) having at least one light source (28) for each required light spectrum, a detector channel (34) having at least one sensor (36) for measuring said fluorescence and absorbance in said immunoassay and/or wet chemistry sample, a cuvette (130) configured to contain said immunoassay or wet chemistry sample (132) between the illuminator channel (26) and the detector channel (34), an optical light mixer (38) between the illuminator channel (26) and the cuvette (130), and an optical splitter (40) between the cuvette (130) and the detector channel (34).
  2. 2. The optical device of claim 1, the optical light mixer (38) being an integrated combination of lenses and glasses that is configured to transmit a single collimated output beam (44) from the illuminator channel to the cuvette.
  3. 3. Optical device according to one of claims 1 or 2, the optical splitter (40) being an integrated combination of lenses and glasses which is configured to split the single output beam (44) which has passed through the cuvette into at least two detection beams (80).
  4. 4. The optical device of claim 1, the optical light mixer (38) comprising a first trichroic prism (42) that is configured to transmit a single collimated output beam (44) from the illuminator channel to the cuvette.
  5. 5. An optical device according to claim 4, the illuminator channel (26) comprising a first, a second and a third light source for a light spectrum.
  6. 6. Optical device according to claim 1 to 5, the first excitation light source (48) for a light spectrum being a white LED.
  7. 7. Optical device according to claim 1 to 6, the second excitation light source (50) for a light spectrum being a UV LED configured to emit at 340 nm.
  8. 8. Optical device according to one of claims 1 to 7, the third excitation light source (52) for a light spectrum being a UV LED configured to emit at 370 nm.
  9. 9. Optical device according to one of claims 4 to 8, the optical splitter (40) comprising a second trichroic prism (43) configured to split the single output beam (44) which has passed through the cuvette into a first (56), a second (58) and a third (60) detection beam.
  10. 10. An optical device according to claim 1 to 9, the detector channel (34) comprising a first (62), a second (68) and a third (70) sensor.

Description

Optical device for fluorescence and absorbance measurements This disclosure relates to the field of absorbance and fluorescence measurements using an optical device. This application relates to the field of absorbance and fluorescence measurements. In fluorescence measurements, a sample is illuminated with an illumination source at a specific excitation wavelength, for example at 370 nm. The sample then emits another wavelength that is different from the excitation wavelength, for example at 450 nm. In absorbance measurements, an attenuation of light due to the presence of a sample is measured. First, a cuvette without a sample is placed. The illumination source is turned on and the light received is measured after it passes through the empty cuvette or with water. Then, a sample is placed in the cuvette and the illumination source is turned on. The attenuation of light is measured in the presence of the sample. More precisely, the decimal logarithm of the light measured with an empty cuvette or water divided by the light measured with the sample gives the absorbance of the sample. In the prior art, as shown in Figure 1, there is a motorized optical device 2 for absorbance and fluorescence measurements. The motorized optical device 2 is composed of an emission channel 4 with a white light 6 and a first lens 8, a first 10 and a second 12 motorized filter wheel, a sample 14 in a cuvette 16 and a detection channel 18. The first motorized filter wheel 10 is moved to select in the white light 6 the wavelength for illumination of the sample 14. At the same time, in the detection channel 18, the second motorized filter wheel 12 is used to select the wavelength for detection purposes. In this case, a broadband illumination source and a broadband detector 20 with a second lens 22 are used. The wavelength selection is carried out by means of these first 10 and second 12 motorized filter wheels. Therefore, there are two motor parts that exert mechanical stress on the device. In addition, the size of each motorized filter wheel is large. Such a large size of the first 10 and the second 12 motorized filter wheels results in a large footprint of the instrument in which these motorized filter wheels must be implemented. Indeed, the arrangement in the prior art is not optimal since the bowl is positioned between the first motorized filter wheel 10 and the second motorized filter wheel 12, two motorized parts are therefore independent and distinct from each other, which multiplies the elements inside the device and makes such a device complex. It also generates reliability problems due to the moving parts of the motorized filter wheels. Moreover, alignment problems arise during the rotation of the motorized filter wheels. This disclosure improves the situation. There is provided an analysis system comprising an optical device configured to measure fluorescence and absorbance in a biological sample contained in at least one cuvette comprising: an illuminator channel comprising at least one light source for each required light spectrum, a detector channel comprising at least one sensor for measuring said fluorescence and absorbance in said biological sample, an optical light mixer between the illuminator channel and the cuvette and an optical splitter between the cuvette and the detector channel, at least one cuvette configured to contain said biological sample, said cuvette being disposed between the illuminator channel and the detector channel. By this arrangement, the optical device is configured to evaluate the fluorescence and absorbance measurements in parallel and preferably at the same time and independently but using the same device, which allows to give a complex and precise analysis of the data of said sample. The detector channel is configured to filter light as needed without the need for moving parts. The optical device is more stable than prior art optical devices. The optical device is configured to be miniaturized and able to be integrated into a measuring instrument. By measuring fluorescence and absorbance in parallel and preferably at the same time, the optical device is particularly suitable for immunoassays. According to the invention, “in parallel” means in the same analysis cycle with the same device. The optical light mixer may be an integrated combination of lenses and glasses configured to transmit a single collimated output beam from the illuminator channel to the cuvette. This optical light mixer is composed of small fixed (non-moving) parts positioned inside a molded housing without special alignments. This optical light mixer allows to work with different wavelengths at the same time and to use different source drive and detection techniques. The glasses of the optical light mixer may include filters and at least one beam combiner. The optical splitter may be an integrated combination of lenses and glasses configured to split the single output beam that has passed through the cuvette into at le