SmartOptics™

Ensuring Maximum Assay Performance

 
SmartOptics is a unique system (patents issued and pending) that selects and configures light sources, filters, detectors, and optical paths to ensure maximum assay performance.

Dynamic Z

SmartOptics' Dynamic Z parameter optimizes signal-to-noise and signal-to-background ratios for both homogenous and cell-based assays.

		Figure 1. Dynamic Z. Click here to view animated Dynamic Z.

In the case of fluorescence polarization assays, for example, the optimal focal area is in the middle of each well, avoiding polarization signals due to fluorophore binding to the walls and bottom of the sample well. In cellular assays, the focal area can be moved to the well bottom for maximum sensitivity and optimal signal to noise. The unique optical design allows easy scalability to smaller-volume assays and higher well-density plates.

		Figure 2. Performance largely independent of volume due to SmartOptics.

light sources

SmartOptics channels light from a flash lamp or a continuous lamp to either the top or bottom of the plate. Crucial to any fluorescence assay detector, the light source largely determines both assay sensitivity and read speed. Analyst® instruments achieve the highest possible sensitivity for a broad range of assays by including both a flash lamp for Time-Resolved Fluorescence and a continuous lamp for high sensitivity Fluorescence Polarization, Fluorescence Intensity and Absorbance. Traditional microplate readers use a low-wattage tungsten-halogen bulb. These bulbs simply cannot deliver the light energy required for certain classes of assays. Analyst uses a 175 Watt xenon-arc lamp that delivers the highest sensitivity fluorescence detection available in a microplate format (less than 5 pM fluorescein for fluorescence intensity).

All modes are configurable from the host computer keyboard, eliminating the need to open the instrument during normal operation via an intuitive graphical user interface.