DNA-based fluorescent microarrays are fast becoming the preferred tool for studying a variety of complex biochemical phenomena ranging from multiplex mutation detection, to gene mapping and expression monitoring, and high throughput screening for new drug candidates. Fluorescence is a low energy phenomenon. The need for rapid, high resolution, wide field imaging of fluorescent microarrays calls for a specialized microscope architecture. We now describe the design of a 'Flying Objective' epi-fluorescence microscope that is ideally suited to this application, and compare the performance of this novel instrument with two other commercial epi-fluorescence microscopes designed to read DNA microarrays.

Date Published: 5 October 1999
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 3779, Current Developments in Optical Design and Optical Engineering VIII, (5 October 1999); doi: 10.1117/12.368219

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3779:
Current Developments in Optical Design and Optical Engineering VIII
Robert E. Fischer; Warren J. Smith, Editor(s)