Patent ID: 11939626
Assignee: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON THROUGH ITS CENTER FOR COMMERCIALIZATION
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC C  G | IPC C  G

Claim 0:
1. A method for performing a digital assay, the method comprising:
producing a plurality of polydisperse droplets, wherein at least some of droplets of the plurality of polydisperse droplets comprise a sample, the sample comprising a target molecule;
amplifying the sample to produce an amplified product, wherein amplifying the sample comprises amplifying the target molecule or molecules associated with the target molecule;
associating the amplified product with a detectable agent;
obtaining an image stack of the plurality of polydisperse droplets, wherein the image stack comprises a plurality of images from a plurality of focal planes;
measuring a volume of a droplet of the plurality of polydisperse droplets using the plurality of the images;
detecting from the image stack a presence or absence of the amplified product and the detectable agent in the droplet; and
determining the concentration of the target molecule in the plurality of polydisperse droplets based on the presence or absence of the detectable agent and the amplified product in the plurality of polydisperse droplets and the volume of at least some of the plurality of polydisperse droplets.