Patent ID: 8232092

Claim:
A digital magnetic microbead analytical system comprising a. a microplate with a plurality of wells for receiving microbeads; b. digital magnetic microbeads to be loaded at the bottom of the wells of said microplate; c. two light sources, with different wavelengths, one for barcode image illumination and one for fluorescence illumination, d. an optical detector, located above or under said microplate, to be used to image said digital magnetic microbeads; and e. an image software to be used to decode the image pattern and detect the fluorescence of said magnetic microbeads wherein f. said image illumination is in transmission mode, while said fluorescence illumination is in reflection mode, and said optical detector can separately or sequentially detect the transmission signal and fluorescence signal the said microbead; and g. said two light sources are configured with orthogonal light paths through the largest planar surface of the microbeads wherein the microbeads comprise a body; a first photopolymer layer; a second photopolymer layer; and an intermediate layer between the first layer and the second layer, the intermediate layer having an encoded pattern defined thereon, wherein the intermediate layer is partially substantially transmissive and partially substantially opaque to light, representing a code corresponding to the micro bead wherein the outermost surface of the microbead comprises said photoresist photopolymer and said photoresist photopolymer is functionalized with a specific target or capture molecule selected from the group consisting of proteins, nucleic acids and small molecules and wherein said micro bead has about the same density as water.