Patent ID: 6861264

Claim:
A method of measuring the luminescence emitted in the measuring medium of a luminescent assay, said method being capable of correcting the variations of luminescence due to the optical properties of the measuring medium, said method comprising: (a) providing an exciting light source for irradiating a luminescent assay wherein said assay, upon excitation, emits luminescence at two different wavelengths, λ 1 and λ 2 ; (b) irradiating said assay with said exciting light source, wherein said light source is spaced apart from said assay to form a gap therebetween; (c) splitting the luminescence emitted by the assay at wavelengths λ 1 and λ 2 following excitation, wherein the luminescence at λ 1 is emitted by a reference compound and reflects the optical properties of the measuring medium, and the luminescence at λ 2 is emitted by a tracer compound and is proportional to the amount of analyte; (d) collecting the luminescence emitted at wavelengths λ 1 and λ 2 ; and (e) measuring the luminescence emitted at wavelength λ 2 and correcting said emission on the basis of the luminescence emitted at wavelength λ 1 .