Patent ID: 8496879

Claim:
A system for analyzing a target in a sample, the target being capable of generating an emitted light in response to an exciting light, the system comprising: a housing; a detector disposed in the housing; a read head configured for receiving the emitted light from the target; a plurality of removable cartridges; and a cartridge support movable relative to the housing and comprising a plurality of cartridge positions configured to receive the plurality of removable cartridges concurrently, the cartridge support configured to selectively optically align one or more of the removable cartridges with the detector or the read head, wherein at least one of the removable cartridges is a wavelength-tunable cartridge comprising: a plurality of light sources configured for producing an exciting light; a light source support, at which the light sources are mounted, configured for moving a selected light source to a light source operating position; a plurality of excitation filters, each excitation filter configured for filtering the exciting light from at least one of the light sources; an excitation filter support, at which the excitation filters are mounted, configured for moving a selected excitation filter to an excitation filter operating position, wherein the selected excitation filter is in optical communication with the selected light source at the light source operating position; a tilt drive configured for tilting the selected excitation filter at a selected angle while in the excitation filter operating position; and an optical system configured for directing the exciting light from the selected light source, through the selected excitation filter, and to the target.