Patent ID: 7961323

Claim:
An apparatus for creating an image of a microarray, comprising: at least one light source configured to direct light toward the microarray having addressed probes with at least one label that is activated by targets; an excitation filter configured to filter the light into a first frequency band; a dichromatic mirror aligned with the microarray, the dichromatic mirror configured to reflect the light in the first frequency band onto the microarray causing the microarray to emit electromagnetic energy from the labels activated by the target at a frequency range that transmits through the dichromatic mirror; an emission filter configured to filter the electromagnetic energy within a second frequency band; and an imaging unit aligned with the microarray and dichromatic mirror, the imaging unit including a charged coupled device (CCD), the CCD having an imaging surface masked by a surface having a coded aperture array such that when the coded aperture array receives electromagnetic energy from the emission filter, an image is created of the entire microarray, wherein the coded aperture array is a modified uniformly redundant array (MURA).