Patent ID: 6730501
Filing Date: 2004-05-04
Classification: B01L,C12Q

Abstract:
A method of determining the presence of a nucleic acid in a sample comprising the steps ofproviding a fluorescent entity capable of indicating the presence of the nucleic acid and capable of providing a signal related to the quantity of the nucleic acid, amplifying the nucleic acid through a plurality of amplification cycles in the presence of the fluorescent entity, measuring fluorescence intensity of the fluorescent entity at each of the plurality of amplification cycles to produce a fluorescent value for each cycle related to the quantity of the nucleic acid present at each cycle, obtaining an individual score from each of a plurality of tests performed on the fluorescent values obtained during the plurality of amplification cycles, the plurality of tests comprising a Confidence Interval Test and a Signal-to-Noise Ratio Test, and using the scores to ascertain whether the nucleic acid is present in the sample.