Patent ID: 7583381

Claim:
An apparatus for performing fluorescence analysis using a plurality of drive currents, comprising: a light emitting diode (LED); control electronics to apply a plurality of drive currents to the LED, wherein a first drive current in the plurality of drive currents is to cause the LED to emit excitation light having a first color and/or first wavelength band, wherein a second drive current in the plurality of drive currents is to cause the LED to emit excitation light having a second color and/or second wavelength band, wherein at least one of the drive currents is greater than a nominal drive current for the LED; optics to couple the excitation light from the LED to a holder for a fluorophor, the fluorophor to emit light in response to the excitation light from the LED, the light emitted from the fluorophor having a color and/or wavelength band that is different from the color and/or wavelength band of the excitation light coupled to the holder; one or more photodetectors; and an optical signal path to couple the light from the holder to the photodetector.