Two-channel, quasi-confocal parallel scan fluorescence imaging for detection of biochips

Abstract

Biochips have advanced tremendously for biomedical applications in recent years. New fluorescence imaging methods have been developed for biochip analysis. In this work, a two-channel, quasi-confocal parallel scan fluorescence imaging method is proposed for detection of biochips. An imaging system was developed with one-dimensional optical scan to produce two-dimensional wide-field images, and the system was designed to enable simple exchange of lasers covering different spectral regions. The mechanism of quasi-confocal imaging provides a sensitivity of 0.46 fluorescence molecules per square micron, while parallel scan makes it a high throughput technique for rapid detection of biochips.