Patent ID: 9488584
Filing Date: 2016-11-08
CPC Classification: B01L,B82Y,C12Q,G01N,G02B,Y10T

Claim Text:
1. A device for measuring chemical or biological reactions using fluorescence comprising: a plurality of reaction cells; an optical waveguide disposed in a waveguide array substrate layer below the reaction cells, wherein the optical waveguide delivers excitation illumination to the reaction cells; a plurality of optical tunnels below the reaction cells; and a sensor array comprising a plurality of sensor elements below the optical tunnels; wherein: the reaction cells comprise fluorescent species that emit optical signals upon irradiation; the emitted optical signals from the reaction cells are relayed through the optical tunnels to sensor elements in the sensor array; the plurality of reaction cells provided on the device with a reaction mixture comprising a primer-nucleic acid template-polymerase complex and fluorescently labeled nucleotides; and the sensor array for monitoring monitors signals to observe within the reaction cells the sequential incorporation of said nucleotides in a polymerase-mediated, template-dependent incorporation reaction, whereby a sequence of the nucleic acid template is determined; and the device is a monolithic device with the reaction cells, the optical waveguide, the optical tunnels and the sensor array integrally fabricated into the device, and pre-aligned and locked in to such alignment during fabrication of the device such that the emitted optical signals are relayed to the sensor elements in the sensor array without passing through air or free space.