Fluorometry and Phosphorimetry in Clinical Chemistry

Abstract

Publisher Summary Fluorometry and phosphorimetry are analytical techniques now widely used in clinical chemistry. Fluorometry depends upon the generation of light energy by reactions involving the analytical sample. Analysis by phosphorescence, although less popular, has some unusual characteristics, which lead to the expectation that it can find a special place in the clinical laboratory. The present shift from the use of fluorometry in research and “special chemistry” to the “routine” clinical chemistry laboratory is the result of several factors. The most important of these have been the development of rugged, stable, sensitive, convenient, and low-cost instrumentation. Their rapid acceptance has in turn stimulated commercial suppliers of reagents and solvents to provide low-cost chemicals prepared. especially to meet the requirements of luminescence analysis. In addition to high sensitivity and specificity, fluorescence methods have the intrinsic advantage of increasing in efficiency with increasing dilution of the active species. For this reason, they are, especially useful for microchemical analysis. These techniques are also frequently characterized by an elegant simplicity of sample preparation and methodology that commends them for routine use and the growing applications of automated systems.