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  Bioanalysis systems including optical integrated circuitRelated Patent Categories: Chemistry: Analytical And Immunological Testing, Involving An Insoluble Carrier For Immobilizing Immunochemicals, Carrier Is Inorganic, Metal Or Metal CoatedThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060205092. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority to provisional application Ser. No. 60/408,821 filed Sep. 7, 2002, the contents of which are incorporated herein. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention generally relates to bioanalysis systems and methods, such as Surface Plasmon Resonance systems, involving optical circuits. In particular, the present invention relates to using optical circuits to improve management of light in bioanalysis systems such as Surface Plasmon Resonance and providing improved sample arrays. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] The pharmaceutical industry is involved in the discovery and development of medicines that improve our health. Drug discovery and development requires vast sums of money and inordinate amounts of time. Specifically, current methods used to identify and validate "targets" and to optimize drug structures in the pharmaceutical industry are particularly difficult and inefficient in large measure due to deficiencies in analytical techniques. An appropriately chosen detection technology and the instrumentation required to perform the detection are vital to the success of any assay. This is particularly true for high throughput screening, which requires continually higher throughput, lower costs, and higher sensitivities for lower quantities of reagents. [0004] A variety of analytical techniques are used to characterize interactions between molecules, particularly in the context of assays directed to the detection and interaction between biomolecules and of biomolecules with small chemical entities. For example, antibody antigen interactions are of fundamental importance in many fields, including biology, immunology and pharmacology. In this connection, many analytical techniques involve binding of a "receptor" such as an antibody to a support, and contacting the bound receptor with an "analyte" such as an antigen. After contact between the receptor and analyte, one or more characteristics are measured which are indicative of the interaction, such as the ability of the receptor to bind the analyte. [0005] There are numerous methods of studying protein protein interactions, including fluorescence, surface plasma resonance, mass spectrometry, and chemiluminescence. The goal of these studies is to determine what the protein of interest interacts with and how specific are the interactions. The data from these assays provides information on how proteins function in biological systems. [0006] In the important and economically significant field of Medical Diagnostics, a variety of assay types are performed for many analytes of many different (chemical) types. The analytes are typically substances that indicate the health or disease status of a human or animal subject. Also, analytes that indicate the status of therapy are of great interest. There is a broad, unmet need in this field for general methods to measure accurately and reliably ligand-receptor interactions. Presently, most methods currently used in the diagnostics industry use employ labels such as a fluor. There is an increasing need however for measurements of many analytes in a single specimen. Moreover, the activities of the Human Genome Project and the burgeoning field of proteomics are identifying many new analytes and there is a pressing need for methods by which valid new assays can be developed quickly. [0007] Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) is a "label free" method of assay development and is promising due to the possibility that it is faster to develop for any specific application and more reliable than label requiring methods such as those based on fluorescence. SPR systems and methods are known. Generally speaking, SPR is observed as a change such as a dip or reduction in intensity of light reflected at a specific angle from the interface between an optically transparent material and a thin metal film, and depends on among other factors the optical path length, i.e., the integral product of refractive index and physical, thickness, of the medium and the quantity and distribution of such refractive material close to the metal surface. A change of refractive properties at the metal surface, such as by the adsorption or binding of material with different optical properties (typically index of refraction) than the medium in which the SPR metal surface is immersed, causes a corresponding shift in the angle at which maximum SPR occurs and which can be related quantitatively to the quantity of material that binds or adsorbs. To couple the light to the interface with the assay such that SPR arises, alternative arrangements are used; either a metallized diffraction grating (Wood's effect), or a metallized glass prism or a prism in optical contact with a metallized glass substrate (Kretschmann effect). [0008] While SPR is a promising technology, there are concerns associated with SPR that inhibit its wide spread use. One problem is that conventional methods for SPR lead to less sensitive results than fluorescence results. Another problem is that SPR has not been capable of high-throughput in terms of assays/unit time. Yet another limiting factor is non-specific binding to the sensing surface, a problem common to all types of direct-measuring sensors, i.e. where no labelled reagent, such as an enzyme or a fluorophore, is used to provide the detected signal. Since SPR generates a signal for all material bound to the surface having an index of refraction different than the surrounding ambient medium (solution), the analyte cannot be distinguished from non-specific material. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0009] The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of the invention nor delineate the scope of the invention. Rather, the sole purpose of this summary is to present some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented hereinafter. [0010] The present invention provides systems and methods that mitigate problems associated with the inefficient management of light in conventional SPR systems. In this connection, the inventors have discovered that many of the concerns associated with SPR are attributable to the inefficient management of light. Optical Integrated Circuits (OICs) are integrated into SPR systems to provide advances such as high throughput and high sensitivity which consequently make SPR a much more attractive technology in drug discovery. The bioanalysis systems and methods of the present invention permit faster and simpler discovery of new targets for drugs, identification of such targets, and screening candidate entities as directed to the targets. Moreover, the present invention enables the identification of receptors for targets of unknown function. [0011] One aspect of the invention relates to a bioanalysis system, such as an SPR system, containing a light source; a metallic support; a light detector, such as reflectance spectrophotometer; and at least one OIC. Another aspect of the invention relates to a method of monitoring a binding event, involving directing light at a metallic support, detecting light reflected from the metallic support, and analyzing properties of the reflected light, wherein directing light and/or detecting light involves the use of an OIC, or the light detector may be part of the OIC. [0012] Another aspect of the invention relates to a disposable microwell array for the bioanalysis system, such as the SPR system, containing a silicon substrate having an insulation layer formed thereover; a plurality of wells formed on a top surface of the silicon substrate; and a metallic layer on the silicon substrate within each of the wells. A first member of a binding pair may be attached to the metallic layer in some cases with appropriate intermediate linking layers while a second member of a binding pair is contacted with the first member simply by exposure to a sample solution and a second reagent. A glass or plastic substrate may be employed in place of the silicon substrate. [0013] Another aspect of the invention relates to a method analyzing distribution in a Z direction and orientation of mass relative to a planar or graded (continuous or not continuous) SPR surface using at least one of multiple wavelengths, physical surface modification, depth profiling, and polarization analysis. The Z direction is normal to the SPR surface. The method permits the evaluation of specific binding versus nonspecific absorption and concentration and binding profiles of specifically bound mass. [0014] To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects of the invention are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed and the present invention is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the drawings. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DRAWINGS [0015] FIG. 1 shows some of the basic principles of SPR. [0016] FIG. 2, illustrates a high level cross-sectional view of the chemical binding events of an SPR method in accordance with one aspect of the present invention. [0017] FIG. 3 illustrates a high level schematic view of a bioanalysis system in accordance with one aspect of the present invention. [0018] FIG. 4 illustrates a high level schematic view of another bioanalysis system in accordance with one aspect of the present invention. [0019] FIG. 5 illustrates a high level schematic view of an SPR system in accordance with one aspect of the present invention. Continue reading... Full patent description for Bioanalysis systems including optical integrated circuit Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Bioanalysis systems including optical integrated circuit patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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