Patent ID: 8423294

Claim:
A method for analyzing a polymer comprising: providing the polymer having first and second unit specific markers, the first unit specific marker including a first label and the second unit specific marker including a second label, wherein the first and second unit specific markers are spaced apart on the polymer by a separation distance; providing a detection zone adapted to detect emission signals, the detection zone characterized by a zone distance; moving the polymer through the detection zone at a velocity; detecting signals emitted from the label of the first unit specific marker before and after a first timing event as the first unit specific marker passes through the detection zone, to define a first emission signal; calculating a proportion of the first emission signal that corresponds to a distance of the detection zone traversed by the label of the first unit specific marker at the first timing event; detecting signals emitted from the label of the second unit specific marker before and after a second timing event as the second unit specific marker passes through the detection zone, to define a second emission signal; calculating a proportion of the second emission signal that corresponds to a distance of the detection zone traversed by the label of the second unit specific marker at the second timing event; determining the separation distance at a precision greater than the zone distance by comparing the proportion of the first emission signal and the proportion of the second emission signal; and outputting an indication of the separation distance to a user.