Patent ID: 6613581
Filing Date: 2003-09-02
Classification: G01N,Y10T

Abstract:
A method for detecting at least one component of interest in a mixture of components in a microfluidic system, the method comprising the steps of:(i) flowing the mixture of components, which mixture of components comprises the at least one component of interest, through a separation channel region in a first microfluidic channel, resulting in one or more separated components, each of the one or more separated components bearing a first detectable label; (ii) detecting the first detectable label associated with the one or more separated components in a first detection channel region located downstream of the separation channel region to determine a physical property of the one or more separated components based on the retention time of the one or more separated components through the separation channel region; (iii) contacting the one or more separated components with a component binding moiety bearing a second detectable label in the first or a second microfluidic channel in a channel region located downstream from the first detection channel region, thereby binding at least a portion of the at least one component of interest to the component-binding moiety; (iv) detecting at least the second detectable labels in a second detection channel region of the first or the second microfluidic channel to thereby provide a detection signal corresponding to the at least one component of interest; and (v) deconvoluting the detection signal to identify the component of interest.