Patent Publication Number: US-2004057870-A1

Title: Instrumentation for optical measurement of samples

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] The present invention relates generally to the field of biochemical laboratory instrumentation for different applications of measuring properties of samples on e.g. microtitration plates and corresponding sample supports. More particularly the invention relates to the improved, reliable and more accurate instrumental features of equipment used as e.g. fluorometers, photometers and luminometers.  
       [0002] The routine work and also the research work in analytical biochemical laboratories and in clinical laboratories are often based on different tags or labels coupled on macromolecules under inspection. The typical labels used are different radioactive isotopes, enzymes, different fluorescent molecules and e.g. fluorescent chelates of rare earth metals.  
       [0003] The detection of enzyme labels can be performed by utilizing its natural biochemical function, i.e. to alter the physical properties of molecules. In enzyme immunoassays colourless substances are catalysed by enzyme to colourful substances or non-fluorescent substances to fluorescent substances.  
       [0004] The colourful substances are measured with absorption, i.e. photometric measurement. In the photometric measurement the intensity of filtered and stabilized beam is first measured without any sample and then the sample inside one plate is measured. The absorbance i.e. the absorption values are then calculated.  
       [0005] The fluorescent measurement is generally used for measuring quantities of fluorescent label substance in a sample. The most photoluminescence labels are based on molecular photoluminescence process. In this process optical radiation is absorbed by the ground state of a molecule. Due to the absorption of energy the quantum molecule rises into higher excited state. After the fast vibrational relaxation the molecule returns back to its ground state and the excess energy is released as an optical quantum. Due to losses in his process the average absorbed energies are higher than the average emitted energies.  
       [0006] A further measurement method is chemiluminescence measurement where emission of a substance is measured from a sample without excitation by illumination. Thus a photoluminometer can also be used as a chemiluminometer.  
       [0007] The typical instruments in analytical chemical research laboratories are the different spectroscopic instruments. Many of them are utilizing optical region of electromagnetic spectrum. The two common types of instruments are the spectrophotometers and the spectrofluorometers. These instruments comprise usually one or two wavelength dispersion devices, like monochromators. The dispersion devices make them capable to perform photometric, photoluminescence and chemiluminescense measurements throughout the optical spectrum.  
       [0008] Patent document U.S. Pat. No. 6,187,267 describes a device for detecting chemiluminescense and photoluminescence from samples.  
       [0009]FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art optical analyser, especially the main optical components and the different optical paths. The instrument may have several illumination sources in the excitation source unit  103 . It may include e.g. a continuous wave lamp (cw-lamp) and a pulse lamp. The cw-lamp can be used for continuous wave photoluminescence excitation.  
       [0010] The radiation from the excitation source unit  103  is guided to a top measurement head  112   a  or to the bottom measurement head  112   b  via fibre optic cables  134   a  or  134   b  respectively. The optics of the measurement head guides the excitation pulse to the sample  126 .  
       [0011] The emission unit  145  receives radiation photoluminescence emission via fibre optic cable  110   a  or  110   b  either from the top measurement head  112   a  or from the bottom measurement head  112   b,  respectively. The emission beam is directed to the tips of the thin fibre optic cables with a confocal optical relay structure. The emission unit may comprise optical components, such as lenses filters and detectors.  
       [0012] The instrument also comprises a chemiluminescense measurement equipment. It includes a nonconfocal optical relay structure  150 , which guides the emission radiation to the thin fibre optic cable  156  by reflections and refraction. The emission radiation is guides via the fibre optic cable to the emission unit including a detector for measuring amount of radiation.  
       [0013] There are certain limitations related to the prior art technology. When the emission radiation is guided through long and thin optical cables the radiation attenuates before reaching the detector. This is especially harmful in chemiluminescence measurements due to very small emission radiation intensities. The nonconfocal optical relay structure also has a disadvantage of causing attenuation due to absorption of the optical materials and imperfect reflections. A further disadvantage is related to the fact that the optical head used in chemiluminescence measurements easily collects dust or other impurities. This causes further attenuation of the emission radiation. It is a relatively difficult process to clean properly the uneven optical head of the chemiluminescence optical head.  
       [0014] The attenuation of the emission naturally degrades the efficiency and accuracy of the measurements. The attenuation also causes that the instrument needs more calibration. For example, if a new chemiluminescence measurement unit is installed to an instrument the unit must be calibrated after the installation.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0015] The object of the present invention is to provide an optical instrument for laboratory measurements, wherein the described disadvantages of the prior art are avoided or reduced. The object of the invention is therefore to achieve a measurement instrument with improved accuracy, reliability, comparability and/or efficiency for performing measurements from samples.  
       [0016] The object of the invention is achieved by providing an optical measurement instrument for photoluminescence and chemiluminescence measurements wherein there is chemiluminescence detector in such a proximity to the sample that the emission radiation from the sample may reach the detector via a direct path. This way it is possible to achieve an essentially improved accuracy of the chemiluminescence measurement as well as an improved overall efficiency of the optical measurements.  
       [0017] The chemiluminescence detector is preferably a photo-multiplier tube, and there thus exists a direct path between the sample surface and the outer surface of the photomultiplier window. However, the invention is not restricted to use of any specific type of a detector.  
       [0018] An optical measurement instrument according to the invention for measuring samples, comprising an illumination source for excitation of a sample, a first detector for measuring photoluminescence from a sample and a chemiluminescence detector for detecting chemiluminescence emission from a sample, is characterized in that said chemiluminescence detector receives the emission directly from the sample.  
       [0019] Some preferred embodiments are described in the dependent claims.  
       [0020] An important advantage of the invention relates to achieving high measurement accuracy and efficiency. While the invention is based on direct optical coupling in chemiluminescence emission detection, attenuation caused by optical fibres and lenses can be totally avoided. The invention also allows the possibility to process different types of measurements simultaneously from different samples.  
       [0021] The aperture between the sample and the detector preferably determines the measurement area within the sample. Therefore the measurement area/volume can be separately determined for each sample plate type  
       [0022] The invention also allows the dimensioning of the aperture according to a specific measurement. This gives the ability to offer optional functions in measurement equipment. It is also possible to have the chemiluminescence measurement as an optional feature in an instrument; the chemiluminescence detector system according to the invention can be easily installed to e.g. a basic photoluminometer. New features can thus be upgraded without a need to make demanding on-site calibrations. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0023] The described and other advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and by referring to the drawings where:  
     [0024]FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a prior art optical unit of a measurement instrument,  
     [0025]FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of optical paths and main components of an exemplary optical unit for a measurement instrument according to the invention,  
     [0026]FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram including a side view of an exemplary measurement instrument according to the invention, and  
     [0027]FIG. 4 is a front view of a top measurement head of an exemplary measurement instrument according to the invention. 
    
    
     [0028]FIG. 1 was already explained in the description of the prior art. In the following, the principle of the invention is first described referring to FIG. 2. Then, an example of a more detailed implementation is described referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, which illustrate exemplary analyser equipment according to the invention.  
     [0029]FIG. 2 illustrates main components and optical paths of an exemplary optical analyser instrument according to the invention. The instrument comprises a detector  291  for chemiluminescence measurements. In this embodiment the detector is a photo-multiplier tube. The photomultiplier tube is in this example in a slightly tilted orientation. This may be necessary in order to measure chemiluminescence and photoluminescence from samples that are near to each other. This way simultaneous measurements can be in most measurement positions of the sample plate.  
     [0030] The detector receives the chemiluminescence radiation from the sample  282  via an aperture of a disk  290 . The radiation reaches the window  293  of the photo-multiplier tube, and after penetrating through the window the radiation reaches the active surface of the photo-multiplier tube. The block  292  includes the preamplifier and other related electronics for the photo-multiplier tube.  
     [0031] The instrument also comprises an illumination source  211  for the excitation of a sample in a photoluminescence measurement. The radiation from the lamp  211  is collimated with lens  215  and directed through an interference filter  214 . Different filters can be selected for different wavelengths. The excitation beam is then focused to an end of a fibre optic guide  218 , which guides it to an aperture  246  of an optical module. The fibre optic guide is preferably a bundle of fibres, such as 200 pieces of fibres with a diameter of 100 μm. One important purpose of the fibre optic guide is to mix the light of the illumination source in order to avoid an uneven distribution of excitation beam within the sample volume to be measured. The excitation beam is guided through an aperture  246  of the optical module and reflected by a dichroic mirror  241  inside the optical module  240 . The excitation beam is further directed into the sample  281  through an aperture of the optical module and a lens system  223 . A part of the illumination light is reflected by a beam splitter mirror  243  and guided through an aperture into a reference detector in order to give reference information on the actual illumination intensity. While the reference mirror is located in the changeable mirror block, the excitation filter differences can be compensated by modifying the properties of the reference mirror. This way high feedback accuracy is achieved. A beam splitter mirror can be produced e.g. by forming reflective coating for the mirror to be e.g. stripes or dots, which cover only a part of the mirror surface.  
     [0032] The photoluminescence emission beam from the sample  281  is directed with the lens system  223  through an aperture into the optical module  240 , where it passes the (preferably) dichroic mirror  241 . The dichroic mirror is preferably designed for each label so that it reflects excitation wavelength but transmits emission wavelengths. The emission beam is then divided inside the optical cube into to two beams by a second mirror  242 . The mirror is preferably a dichroic mirror, which functions as a filter so that a beam with a wavelength of the first emission is transmitted through the mirror and focused through an aperture  244  according to the invention to the first detector  231 a. The beam with a wavelength of the second emission is reflected and guided focused through another aperture  245  to the second detector  231   b,  The second dichroic mirror is therefore also preferably designed for each label/pair of labels so that it transmits first emission wavelengths but reflects second emission wavelengths.  
     [0033] The first emission beam received from the aperture of the optical module is collimated with a lens  233   a  and directed through an interference filter  234   a  in order to prevent light with a wavelength outside the first emission from passing to the first detector. The first emission beam is then focused with lens  235   a  to the first detector  231   a.  The second emission beam received from another aperture of the optical module is reflected with a mirror  238  to a lens  233   b  where the beam is collimated and directed through a second interference filter  234   b  in order to prevent light with a wavelength outside the second emission from passing to the second detector. The second emission beam is then focused with lens  235   a  to the first detector  231   a.  The signals received from the detectors are then amplified and processed to achieve a value for the intensities of the first and second emissions. The instrument may also comprise a bottom measurement head for measuring photoluminescence radiation below the sample,  263 .  
     [0034] As already mentioned, an essential feature of the invention is that the detector for the chemiluminescence measurement is near to the sample, and the radiation has a clear path from the sample to the detector and the attenuation of the chemiluminescence radiation is negligible. It is also possible to achieve low attenuation for the photoluminescence emission beam with the described instrumentation. The advantages of the invention become more apparent in the following more complete example of an optical instrument according to the invention.  
     [0035]FIG. 3 illustrates in more detail an exemplary optical instrument according to the invention. The instrument has a top measurement head  320 , which includes components for providing an excitation beam and for detecting emissions from above the sample. The instrument has also an optional bottom measurement head  360 , which includes components for providing an excitation beam and for detecting emissions from below the sample. The instrument further comprises a sample platform  380 , which has means for moving and a sample tray  389  in order to position successive samples  381  into the measurement volume. There may also be means provided for adjusting the vertical position of the sample platform relative to the top and bottom measurement heads.  
     [0036] The instrument comprises a detector  391  for chemiluminescence measurements. In this embodiment the detector is a photo-multiplier tube. The detector receives the chemiluminescence radiation from the sample via an aperture of a disk  390 . The chemiluminescence detector is in front of the photoluminescence components, and thus the chemiluminescence measurement is made from a sample  382  which is more on the front, whereas the photoluminescence measurement is made from a sample  381  which is more on the back in FIG. 3. Thus a photoluminescence measurement and a chemiluminescence measurement can be performed simultaneously from different samples. The detector can be used in analogue mode or digital mode, or if the properties of the photomultiplier rube allow, both modes may be used simultaneously. The preamplifier and other related electronics for the photo-multiplier tube are located in a housing  392  above the photo-multiplier tube.  
     [0037] The aperture discs may be changeable so that different size apertures can be used with different sample plates. Especially, if the aperture disks are manually changeable, they may preferably be equipped with machine readable codes, such as bar codes, so that the processor of the equipment can check with a code reader, which type of aperture disk is installed. This way it can be certified that a correct type of aperture disk is used for each measurement. The bar code reader or related electronics are not shown in FIG. 3.  
     [0038] The instrument has one or two illumination sources for providing excitation in photoluminescence measurements. The main illumination source  312   a  includes a pulse lamp, and the optical energy of each pulse is preferably equal. The excitation beam generated by the pulse lamp is collimated with a lens  315  and directed through an interference filter  314 . The filter is placed on a filter slide, so that the excitation filter to be used in a measurement can be selected from several filters. The excitation beam is then focused to an end of a fibre optic guide  318 , which mixes the excitation beam and guides it to an aperture of an optical module  340   a,  which is located behind the photo-multiplier tube. The optical module  340  and the lens system  323  directs the excitation beam into the sample  381 . The optical module is not described here in more detail because it was explained in relation to FIG. 2.  
     [0039] The equipment may also include a second pulse lamp  312   b,    311   b,  which may be a low power lamp, e.g. for simultaneous photometric measurements. The instrument has an optical fibre guide  312   a  for guiding the light from the second lamp. The light can be distributed for the photometric measurement into three filters  314   h,    314   j  and  314   k  with fibre branches  377   h,    377   j  and  377   k.    
     [0040] The light beams are collimated with lenses  375   h,    375   j  and  375   k  before directing the beams through the filters. The filters can be located on the same or different filter slide as the filter  314   e  for the first illumination source. If the same filter slide is used for filters of both lamps, the simultaneous measurement modes must be taken into account when the location of the filters is planned. After filtering, the beams are collimated into ends of three optical fibre cables  378 , which are led to the bottom measurement head for the photometric measurement. The light beams from the optical cables  378  are focused to three samples  384  with a lens system  379  including lenses for each three beams. After transmitting through the samples the beams are measured with three detectors  322   d,    322   e  and  322   f,  which are e.g. a photo diodes. The three ends of the fibre optic cables, three lenses, three simultaneously measured samples and three detectors are in this case located in a row perpendicular to the plane of the drawing and thus only one of them can be seen in the drawing.  
     [0041] It is preferable to have a separate optics for the photometrics measurement so that a photoluminescence measurement and a photometrics measurement can be performed simultaneously from different samples. If simultaneous photoluminescence and photometric measurements are required. The analyzer is preferably equipped with two pulse lamps. However, it is also possible to use an instrument with one lamp for photometrics measurements. For example, an optical switch  317  may have an output for an optical fibre  378   a,  which leads light from the lamp  312   a  to the photometrics measurement optics  379 . It is then possible to control the optical switch either to guide the light for providing excitation for an emission measurement or to guide the light the a photometric measurement.  
     [0042] An optical fibre  318 T is used for guiding the excitation beam from the optical switch  317  to the optical module  340  of the top measurement head. An optical fibre  318 B is used for guiding the excitation beam from the optical switch  317  to the optical module  350  of the bottom measurement head. The instrument may also have a further lamp so that different lamps can be selected for providing the excitation beam of the top head and the bottom head. In this case, a more versatile optical switch system is required.  
     [0043] The emission beam from the sample  381  is directed with the lens system  323  into the optical module  340  where the emission beam is divided into to two beams. A dichroic mirror in the optical module preferably functions as a filter so that a beam with a wavelength of the first emission is transmitted through the to the first detector  331   a,  and a beam with a wavelength of the second emission is reflected to the second detector  331   b.  The detector can be e.g. a photo-multiplier tube, which may be used in analogue mode or in photon count mode, or in both modes simultaneously. When the equipment includes two photoluminescence detectors they may be of different types and the detection modes may be different during a measurement.  
     [0044] The first emission beam is collimated with a lens  333 a and directed through an interference filter  334   j  in order to prevent light with a wavelength outside the first emission from passing to the first detector. The first emission beam is then focused with lens  335   a  to the first detector  331   a.  The second emission beam is reflected with a mirror  338  to a lens  333   b  where the beam is collimated and directed through a second interference filter  334   k  in order to prevent light with a wavelength outside the second emission from passing to the second detector. The second emission beam is then focused with lens  335   a  to the first detector  331   a.  The filters  334   j  and  334   k  are located on same filter slide or they may locate on different filter slides. The filter slide(s) is movable so that the filters used in the measurement can be selected from a number of filters with different pass-band wavelengths.  
     [0045] In an instrument also comprising a bottom measurement head there are optical switches  337   a  and  337   b  for selecting the detected emission beam from the top or bottom measurement head. An optical fibre  338   a  is used for guiding the first emission beam from the optical module  350  of the bottom measurement head  360  to the optical switch  337   a.  Another optical fibre  338   b  is used for guiding the second emission beam from the optical module  350  of the bottom measurement head  360  to the optical switch  337   b.    
     [0046] The signals received from the detectors are then amplified and processed to achieve a value for the intensities of the first and second emissions. Measurement signals and reference signals are amplified and read after each excitation pulse and signal corrections are calculated. Basic references are determined with standard solvents after the analyzer has been assembled. If there are more than one excitation pulses used for one well, the corresponding emission signals are digitally integrated.  
     [0047] The instrument comprises a carousel wheel  328  for the attachment of optical modules  340   a,    340   b,  . . . The wheel can be rotated around its fixing point  329 , and the optical module used in a measurement can thus be selected by controlling the position of the wheel. According to the present invention, the equipment has an optical interface of at least two emission beams and at least one excitation beam for a single optical module.  
     [0048] If the instrument is equipped with a bottom measurement head, there may be a similar optical module  350  used in the bottom measurement head as in the top measurement head. The excitation and emission beams art: lead between the two measurement heads with optical fibres  338   a,    338   b  and  318 B. There is also a lens system  363  for focusing the beams to the sample and ends of the optical fibres. Since the optical module of the bottom measurement head needs not be so frequently changed, it may be manually changeable. Alternatively a processor-controlled carousel can also be used in the bottom measurement head.  
     [0049] The photo-multiplier tube and its electronics are shown reduced in size compared to other components in FIGS. 2 and 3. On the other hand, the optical modules are shown essentially enlarged in FIGS. 2 and 3 in order to better illustrate the optical paths in the instruments. The actual size of the optical modules may be as small as 20 mm×20 mm×20 mm. The optical modules may also have machine-readable identification codes.  
     [0050] The instrument is also equipped with electronics for amplifying and processing the signals from the detectors, as well as electronics for driving the lamp(s). There is also control electronics provided for controlling the measurements, such as selecting filter(s), selecting the optical module(s), controlling optical switch(es), controlling the position of the sample tray  389  for selecting the sample to be measured, and controlling the positions of the measurement heads  320  and  360  relative to the sample platform  380 . The main electronics is not shown in FIG. 3, as the required electronics can be designed by a skilled person in the art.  
     [0051]FIG. 4 illustrates a front view of an exemplary top measurement head  420  according to the invention. The dimensions of components have correct relations in this Figure. The optical components for photoluminescence measurement are located above the lens system  423 . A photo-multiplier tube  491  is located at the side of the measurement head in a slightly tilted orientation. The emission radiation is achieves the window of the photo-multiplier tube through the aperture  490 . The electronics  492  for the photo-multiplier tube is located above the tube. The chemiluminescence detector unit includes components  490 - 492 , and means  494  for attaching the detector unit to the top measurement head. The attachment is such that it is easy to upgrade or change the chemiluminescence detector unit if needed.  
     [0052] In the preferred embodiment the user can adjust various parameters of a measurement. The excitation pulse energy is adjusted by the discharge voltage and by the capacitors of the flash lamp power supply. Total excitation energy of one measurement is controlled by measuring every pulse and comparing the sum to a reference level of the integrator. Also the riling and repetition parameters of measurements are preferably user adjustable.  
     [0053] Next some typical measurements are described in more detail. In this description the use of an optical instrument according to FIG. 3 is referred to.  
     [0054] Chemiluminescence Measurement  
     [0055] In a chemiluminescence measurement no excitation pulse is given. The analogue gates or a digital window for the measurement period is set. After a sample is chosen a first period for measuring illumination is triggered. The length of the measurement period is e.g. 1 ms. Detected signals are read, further measurement periods are triggered, and the corresponding signals are read. The measurement periods are repeated for e.g. 1000 times, which gives 1 second for the total measurement time. Finally the measured signals arc summed to achieve the result of the total measurement.  
     [0056] FI and TRF Measurements  
     [0057] In a prompt photoluminescence, i.e. FI measurement, one excitation pulse is given for each sample to be measured. In a FI measurement an excitation filter and an emission filter are selected as was described above. A suitable optical module is also selected; the optical module may be a general-purpose module, or it may be a module that is especially designed for a determined label substance.  
     [0058] After a sample has been chosen for the measurement an excitation pulse is transmitted, and reference R 1  is read wherein R 1  is the amount of light that has been used in the excitation of the label. The illumination reference is received from a reference detector  319 . Emission signals S 1   A  and S 1   B  are then read from the detectors. A correction factor for the signals is calculated on the basis of the illumination reference value. The long-term stability of the equipment is fixed to this amount of light when using a determined excitation filter and mirror block.  
     [0059] If several excitation pulses are used for one sample, the sequence is repeated and the results are summed or averaged. This leads to improved signal-to-noise ratio of the measurement.  
     [0060] A time resolved photoluminescence measurement, i.e. TRF measurement, is equal to the FI measurement except that several excitation pulses are formed for each sample and corresponding emissions are measured. The measurement signals and reference signals are read after each excitation pulse and signal corrections are calculated. Basic references are determined with standard solvents after the analyzer has been assembled. After receiving all emission signals from a sample, the results are preferably digitally integrated. Finally, a linear correction can be made for the digital signal using a reference.  
     [0061] In this patent specification the structure of the components in an optical measurement instrument is not described in more detail as they can be implemented using the description above and the general knowledge of a person skilled in the art.  
     [0062] An optical instrument includes control means for performing the optical measurement process. The control of the measuring process in an optical measurement instrument generally takes place in an arrangement of processing capacity in the form of microprocessor(s) and memory in the form of memory circuits. Such arrangements are known as such from the technology of analyzers and relating equipment. To convert a known optical instrument into an equipment according to the invention it may be necessary, in addition to the hardware modifications, to store into the memory means a set of machine-readable instructions that instruct the microprocessor(s) to perform the operations described above. Composing and storing into memory of such instructions involves known technology which, when combined with the teachings of this patent application, is within the capabilities of a person skilled in the art.  
     [0063] Above, an embodiment of the solution according to the invention has been described. The principle according to the invention can naturally be modified within the frame of the scope defined by the claims, for example, by modification of the details of the implementation and ranges of use.  
     [0064] The embodiments described above mainly relate to multiemission measurements. However, even if the invention has special advantages when applied to double emission measurements, the invention can as well be applied in other types of measurements, such as single emission measurements.  
     [0065] Although the invention has been described with reference to the different microtitration plates it is equally applicable to any form of sample matrix like gels and filter.  
     [0066] Although the invention is described with the arrangement where detectors are located on the top measurement head, there is no reason why their location on the bottom measurement head should not work.