METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IDENTIFYING FLUOROPHORES

摘要

The present invention is a unique method for identifying the presence, and preferably the identity, of a fluorophore by optically stimulating one or more fluorophores with an optical signal which has been modulated in intensity in the time domain. The stimulated fluorophore produces a resulting fluorescence which is demodulated to produce an electrical signal corresponding to the intensity modulation of the fluorescence. Finally, the electrical signal is compared to the modulation of the optical signal to determine whether or not the fluorophore is present. The present method can be used alone or in conjunction with known methods of optically analyzing fluorescence of fluorophores to determine the presence of fluorophores.