Femtowatt non-vacuum tube detector assembly

A method comprising:

• detecting a signal at femtowatt sensitivity by using a plurality of photodiodes to collect light emitted from a sample to generate said signal and then amplifying said signal by:
• using an analog amplification system comprising at least a high gain transimpedance amplifier (TIA) and at least a buffer on each of said photodiodes, followed by a fully differential amplifier to combine outputs of multiple TIAs, containing said analog amplification system in a mechanical housing module;
• and
• using a digital acquisition system on said signal comprising at least one analog-to-digital converter (ADC), followed by a programmable processor to detect, which is linked to a central processor as well as on-board memory, wherein the programmable processor implements a data acquisition algorithm, wherein the programmable processor implements the data acquisition algorithm using a long time average.

A method comprising:

• detecting a signal at femtowatt sensitivity by using a plurality of photodiodes to collect light emitted from a sample to generate said signal and then amplifying said signal by:
• using an analog amplification system comprising at least a high gain transimpedance amplifier (TIA) and at least a buffer on each of said photodiodes, followed by a fully differential amplifier to combine outputs of multiple TIAs;
• and
• using a digital acquisition system on said signal comprising at least one analog-to-digital converter (ADC), followed by a programmable processor to detect, which is linked to a central processor as well as on-board memory, wherein the programmable processor implements a data acquisition algorithm, wherein the programmable processor implements the data acquisition algorithm using a long time average;
• wherein the sample comprises a blood sample.