Patent ID: 8283156
Filing Date: 2012-10-09
Classification: G01N,Y10S

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for detection of analytes in a medium using diffraction of light, comprising: a source of illumination; a sensing element including a diffractive optic element having analyte-specific receptors bound to a surface of said diffractive optic element for binding selected analytes, the analyte-specific receptors being laid out on said surface in a pre-selected pattern such that when analytes are present in the medium they bind to said analyte-specific receptors, said pre-selected pattern being configured so that under illumination by a beam of light a diffraction pattern is produced having at least one diffraction spot spaced from said beam of light with a sufficient amount of intensity of said diffraction pattern being located at said at least one diffraction spot to indicate presence of analytes bound to said analyte-specific receptors, said pre-selected pattern excluding said analyte-specific receptors arrayed in parallel straight lines of substantially equal width spaced evenly from each other, or in a periodic array of circles, said source of illumination being positioned so as to illuminate said diffractive optic element, wherein said diffractive optic element is a diffractive optic beam splitter, which produces a pre-selected number of light beams of approximately equal intensities when illuminated by a single incident beam of light; detection means positioned with respect to said sensing element to detect light diffracted from said diffractive optic element; and processing means for analysing said diffracted light for presence of a diffraction image representative of binding of one or more analytes with their analyte-specific receptors and identifying from said diffraction pattern analytes present in said medium.