Optical instrument including excitation source

Abstract

An optical instrument is provided for simultaneously illuminating two or more spaced-apart reaction regions with an excitation beam generated by a light source. A collimating lens can be disposed along a beam path between the light source and the reaction regions to form bundles of collimated excitation beams, wherein each bundle corresponds to a respective reaction region. Methods of analysis using the optical instrument are also provided.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . An instrument comprising:
 a block comprising a plurality of spaced-apart reaction regions;   a light emitting diode source configured to produce a plurality of diverging excitation beams, each diverging excitation beam configure to illuminate only a single, respective reaction region of the plurality of reaction regions so as to produce a respective emission beam;   a plurality of respective detectors, each detector configured to receive one of the respective emission beams;   an optical system configured to reduce the divergence of the diverging excitation beams and to produce a plurality of respective discrete excitation beams that propagate parallel to one another;   wherein, during operation, (1) the plurality of respective discrete excitation beams simultaneously illuminate the respective reaction regions and (2) each discrete excitation beam and its respective emission beam are disposed along a common axis and along a common path between the block and the optical system.   
     
     
         22 . The instrument of  claim 21 , wherein the optical system comprises a refractive optical system comprising a plurality of lenses. 
     
     
         23 . The instrument of  claim 21 , wherein the optical system is disposed between the plurality of reaction regions and the detectors. 
     
     
         24 . The instrument of  claim 21 , wherein the plurality of spaced-apart reaction regions comprises a plurality of sample wells. 
     
     
         25 . The instrument of  claim 21 , wherein the plurality of spaced-apart reaction regions comprises two or more wells of a multi-well microtiter plate. 
     
     
         26 . The instrument of  claim 21 , wherein the plurality of respective detectors comprise pixels of a charge-coupled device (CCD), pixels of a charge injection device (CID), pixels of a CMOS detector, a plurality of photodiodes, or a plurality of photomultipliers. 
     
     
         27 . The instrument of  claim 21 , the optical system comprises a first lens disposed along a first emission path between the block and one of the detectors and a second lens disposed along a second emission path between block and another one of the detectors. 
     
     
         28 . The instrument of  claim 21 , further comprising a plurality of respective dichroic filters corresponding to a respective one of the discrete excitation beams, wherein each dichroic filter is configured to transmit light from the respective discrete excitation beam and reflect emission light from the respective emission beam. 
     
     
         29 . The instrument of  claim 21 , further comprising a mask disposed between the block and the light emitting diode source, the mask comprising an optically opaque material and configured to transmit at least some light from each of the discrete excitation beams. 
     
     
         30 . An instrument comprising:
 a block comprising a plurality of reaction regions comprising a first reaction region and a second reaction region spatially separated from the first reaction region;   a light source comprising (a) a first light emitting diode configured to produce a first diverging excitation beam directed to the first reaction region to produce a first emission beam and (b) a second light emitting diode configured to produce a second diverging excitation beam directed to the second reaction region to produce a second emission beam;   a first detector configured to receive the first emission beam and a second detector configured to receive the second emission beam;   an optical system configured to reduce the divergence of the first diverging excitation beam to produce a first discrete excitation beam and to reduce the divergence of the second diverging excitation beam to produce a second discrete excitation beam that propagates parallel to the first discrete excitation beam;   wherein, during operation, (1) the first and second discrete excitation beams simultaneously illuminate the respective first and second reaction regions, (2) the first discrete excitation beam and the first emission beam are disposed along a first common axis and a first common path between the first reaction region and the optical system, and (3) the second discrete excitation beam and the second emission beam are disposed along a second common axis and a second common path between the second reaction region and the optical system.   
     
     
         31 . The instrument of  claim 30 , wherein the first light source is characterized by a first range of wavelengths and a second light source is characterized by a second range of wavelengths that is different from the first range of wavelengths. 
     
     
         32 . The instrument of  claim 30 , wherein the optical system comprises a refractive optical system comprising a plurality of lenses. 
     
     
         33 . The instrument of  claim 30 , wherein the optical system is disposed between the reaction regions and the detectors. 
     
     
         34 . The instrument of  claim 30 , wherein the reaction regions comprises a plurality of sample wells. 
     
     
         35 . The instrument of  claim 30 , wherein the reaction regions comprises two or more wells of a multi-well microtiter plate. 
     
     
         36 . The instrument of  claim 30 , wherein the detectors comprise pixels of a charge-coupled device (CCD), pixels of a charge injection device (CID), pixels of a CMOS detector, a plurality of photodiodes, or a plurality of photomultipliers. 
     
     
         37 . The instrument of  claim 21 , the optical system comprises a first lens disposed along a first emission path between a first reaction region and the first detector and a second lens disposed along a second emission path between a second reaction region and the second detector. 
     
     
         38 . The instrument of  claim 30 , further comprising a plurality of respective dichroic filters corresponding to each of the discrete excitation beams, wherein each dichroic filter is configured to transmit light from the respective discrete excitation beam and reflect emission light from the respective emission beam. 
     
     
         39 . The instrument of  claim 30 , further comprising a mask disposed between the block and the light source, the mask comprising an optically opaque material and configured to transmit at least some light from each of the discrete excitation beams.