Non-scanning spr system

Abstract

A system for measuring an evanescent wave phenomenon at total internal reflection, the system comprising: a) a sensing surface comprising a plurality of areas of interest; b) an illumination sub-system comprising a light source, which illuminates each area of interest on the sensing surface over a range of angles of incidence; c) a detector which responds differently to an intensity of light received by it at different locations; and d) projection optics comprising primary optics and a plurality of secondary elements, the primary optics projecting an image of the illuminated sensing surface onto the secondary elements, which project their received light onto the detector in such a way that it is possible to determine, from the response of the detector, how much light is reflected from each area of interest, as a function of angle of incidence over the range of angles for that area.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for measuring reflectivity of light from a surface exhibiting an evanescent wave phenomenon at total internal reflection, the system comprising:
 a) a sample surface comprising a plurality of sensing areas of interest;   b) an illumination sub-system comprising a light source, which illuminates each sensing area of interest on the sample surface over a range of angles of incidence;   c) a moving detector comprising a plurality of detector elements arranged on a surface of the detector in two dimensions, which responds differently to an intensity of light received by it at different locations in two dimensions, due in part to a different response of the detector to light received by different detector elements, and in part to a different response of the detector to light received by a same detector element at different times, when the detector moves over the different locations; and   d) optical elements that project light from different sensing areas of interest and different angles of incidence to the different locations in two dimensions;   
       wherein the optical elements and the detector are configured so that it is possible to determine, from the response of the detector, how much light is reflected from each sensing area of interest, as a function of angle of incidence over the range of angles for that area, and wherein the detector achieves its full two dimensional range, resolution, or both, by scanning in time over different locations receiving light reflected at different angles of incidence, from different sensing areas of interest, or both. 
     
     
         2 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein the evanescent wave phenomenon comprises surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and the sample surface comprises a material that exhibits SPR. 
     
     
         3 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein the sensing areas of interest are arranged in two dimensions on the sample surface. 
     
     
         4 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein the sensing areas of interest are arranged one dimensionally on the sample surface. 
     
     
         5 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein the illumination sub-system is configured to illuminate all sensing areas of interest simultaneously. 
     
     
         6 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein, for each sensing area of interest, the illumination sub-system is configured to illuminate said sensing area of interest over the entire range of angles of incidence simultaneously. 
     
     
         7 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein the detector elements extend over a smaller range, are less densely arranged, or both, than the different locations at which the detector has a different response to light received. 
     
     
         8 . A system according to  claim 1 , configured so that light reflected from each sensing area of interest, at different angles of incidence in the range for that area, is received by the detector at different locations with substantially different distributions of intensities, thereby making it possible to determine, from the response of the detector, how much light is reflected from each sensing area of interest, as a function of angle of incidence. 
     
     
         9 . A system according to  claim 8 , wherein the projection optics projects light reflected from each sensing area of interest, within each of a plurality of sub-ranges of angles of incidence for that sensing area of interest, mostly to locations at the detector that receive more of the light reflected from that sub-range and that sensing area of interest than from any other sub-range or sensing area of interest. 
     
     
         10 . A system according to  claim 9 , wherein the different locations in two dimensions at which the detector receives light comprise a plurality of regions of the locations arranged in two dimensions on a surface of the locations, each sensing area of interest corresponding to one region, with the locations in each region receiving light mostly from the corresponding sensing area of interest. 
     
     
         11 . A system according to  claim 10 , wherein, within each detector region, at least some of the locations, that receive more of their light from one sub-range of angles of incidence, and from the sensing area of interest corresponding to that detector region, than from any other sub-range or sensing area of interest, are arranged on the surface of the locations such that an average angle of incidence in the sub-range that a location receives the most light from is a monotonic function of the position of the location along an axis. 
     
     
         12 . A system according to  claim 1 , also including one or more fluid channels capable of bringing one or more sample fluids in contact with at least some of the sensing areas of interest, each such area comprising a surface suitable for the evanescent wave phenomenon that specifically binds at least one material from a sample fluid that is brought in contact with that area, if said material is present in said fluid. 
     
     
         13 . A system according to  claim 12 , including an analyzer which calculates one or more of a concentration of the material in the sample fluid, a binding rate of the material to the surface, and a dissociation rate of the material from the surface, using data of the response of the detector as a function of time. 
     
     
         14 . A method of measuring reflectivity of light from a surface exhibiting an evanescent wave phenomenon at total internal reflection, the method comprising:
 a) reflecting light from a plurality of sensing areas of interest which exhibit the evanescent wave phenomenon, arranged on a sample surface, over a range of angles of incidence for each area;   b) projecting light reflected from the sample surface to different locations on a detector, such that the detector responds differently to light reflected from different sensing areas of interest, and different angles of incidence within the range of angles for a sensing area of interest;   c) moving the detector to receive the projected light at different locations, such that the detector responds differently at different times to light projected to a same location, said moving increasing a range, resolution, or both, of the response of the detector to light projected to different locations; and   d) determining, from a response of the detector, how much light is reflected from each sensing area of interest, as a function of angle of incidence over the range of angles for that area, for at least one time interval.   
     
     
         15 . A method according to  claim 14 , also comprising passing one or more fluid samples over the plurality of sensing areas of interest, the fluid samples containing at least one material which binds to at least one of the sensing areas of interest, changing how much light is reflected from that sensing area of interest, as a function of angle of incidence over the range of angles for that area. 
     
     
         16 . A method according to  claim 15 , also comprising analyzing response data from the detector to determine one or more of a presence, a concentration, a binding rate of the material in the one or more samples to the sample surface, and a dissociation rate of the material in the one or more samples from the sample surface. 
     
     
         17 . A method according to  claim 15 , wherein passing one or more fluid samples comprises passing a fluid sample over at least one sensing area of interest that does not bind to the material, and analyzing the response data of the detector comprises comparing the response data from light reflecting from the area that binds to the material, to the response data from light reflecting from the area that does not bind to the material. 
     
     
         18 . A method according to  claim 14 , wherein the evanescent wave phenomenon comprises SPR. 
     
     
         19 . A method according to  claim 14 , wherein determining, from a response of the detector, how much light is reflected from each sensing area of interest comprises combining response data from light reflecting from neighboring sensing areas of interest. 
     
     
         20 . A method according to  claim 14 , wherein determining, from a response of the detector, how much light is reflected from each sensing area of interest comprises combining response data from light projected onto the detector at neighboring locations.