Abstract
We report the development of miniature fluorescence detection systems that employ miniature prism, mirrors and low coat CCD camera to detect the fluorescence emitted from 40 fluorescently-labeled protein patterns without scanner. This kind of miniature fluorescence detection system can be used in point of care. We introduce two systems, one uses prism+mirror block and the other uses prism and two mirrors. A large NA microscope eyepiece and low cost CCD camera are used. We fabricated protein chip containing multi-pattern BSA labeled with Cy5, using MEMS technology and modified the surface chemically to clean and to immobilize proteins. The measurements show that the combination of prism and mirrors can homogenize elliptical excitation light over the sample with higher optical efficiency, and increase the separation between excitation and fluorescence light at the CCD to give higher signal intensity and higher signal to noise ratio. The measurements also show that protein concentrations ranging from 10 ng/ml to 1000 ng/ml can be assayed with very small error. We believe that the proposed fluorescence detection system can be refined to build a commercially valuable hand-held or miniature detection device.
