Patent ID: 11921113
Assignee: UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, BALTIMORE
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 0:
1. A method for detecting a target molecule in a sample, the method comprising:
providing a substrate comprising a multiplicity of metallic structures, wherein capture biomolecular probes having affinity for the target molecule are coupled to the metallic structures;
providing free biomolecular probes having an affinity for the target molecule, wherein the free biomolecular probes have at least one excitable molecule attached thereto, wherein the excitable molecule is a fluorescent, chemiluminescent, bioluminescent, or luminescent molecule;
introducing the sample suspected of including the target molecule for binding to the capture biomolecular probes;
contacting the bound target molecule with the free biomolecular probe, wherein binding of the free biomolecular probe to the target molecule causes the excitable molecule to be positioned about 5 nm to about 200 nm from the metallic structures;
applying electromagnetic energy to excite the excitable molecule; and
measuring emissions from the excitable molecule and/or metallic structures, wherein the emission spectrum for the sample is distorted on the red edge in a range from 1 to 10 nm and is broadened or narrowed, thereby causing a color change in the sample emission spectrum, relative to a control emission spectrum of a substantially identical control which lacks the metallic structures.