Patent ID: 7705336

Claim:
A method for increasing a read-out speed of a 1-D detector within an optical interrogation system, the optical interrogation system includes a launch system and a receive system, wherein said launch system directs a light beam towards a biosensor, and wherein said receive system includes a 1-D detector which receives a light beam out-coupled from said biosensor, the method comprising the steps of: blocking a plurality of pixels located within said 1-D detector such that only a subset of pixels receive the light beam out-coupled from said biosensor; transferring a set of charges/voltages associated with the received light beam from the subset of pixels located within said 1-D detector before outputting from said 1-D detector a signal representative of a previously transferred set of charges/voltages associated with a previously received light beam; and processing the signal in a first-in and first-out sequence to determine an optical response corresponding to the previously transferred set of charges/voltages, wherein said optical response indicates whether or not there was a biological substance/bio-chemical interaction on top of said biosensor.