Patent ID: 8501461

Claim:
A system for detecting two or more different optical signals emitted from each of a plurality of reaction receptacles, wherein the reaction receptacles are disposed in a fixed arrangement with respect to each other, said system comprising: a plurality of optical sensors, each of said optical sensors being configured to detect one of the two or more optical signals and being associated with one of the reaction receptacles so that each reaction receptacle has associated therewith one optical sensor for each optical signal to be detected, whereby said optical sensors associated with each of the plurality of reaction receptacles are arranged in a configuration that enables each optical sensor to detect the associated optical signal emitted from the associated reaction receptacle; and a transport mechanism constructed and arranged to effect movement of each reaction receptacle to sequentially place each reaction receptacle into a signal-detecting position with respect to one of its associated optical sensors, wherein (1) said plurality of optical sensors are arranged so that only one of the plurality of reaction receptacles at a time can be in a signal-detecting position with respect to one of its associated optical sensors, and (2) each of said optical sensors configured to detect one of the two or more optical signals is arranged together in a group with at least one other of said optical sensors configured to detect the same optical signal.