Patent ID: 7993840

Claim:
A method for the detection and/or quantification of different target molecules being bound at different locations of a surface of an optically transparent solid support having a refractive index n 1 by specific interaction with capture molecules being immobilized on the solid support surface in the form of an array and being in contact with target molecules being in a solution having a refractive index n 2 , whereby n 1 >n 2 , said method comprising the steps of: (a) illuminating homogenously the surface of the support on which the target molecules are bound with a light beam that reaches the surface of the support having immobilized capture molecules with an angle of 90° plus or minus 10°, thereby causing homogeneous excitation of the target molecules; and (b) detecting simultaneously light emitted from the target molecule in at least four different locations in the following way: collecting the emitted light through a side of said support which is inclined relative to the surface of the support on which the target molecules are bound, focusing the emitted light by a lens on a detector surface which is positioned at an observation angle θ obin relative to the normal of said solid support surface, such that 90°>θ obin >sin −1 (n 2 /n 1 ), and obtaining an image of at least 4 different locations that are spatially separated on the solid support surface and being spatially discriminated onto the surface of the detector, wherein the image of said at least 4 different locations that are spatially discriminated is simultaneously obtained onto the surface of the detector and wherein a two-dimensional image of the surface of the support having locations with bound target molecules is in focus onto the detector.