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US 2013/0084572 A1Published application
Calibrations and controls for droplet-based assays
AssigneeQuantalife, Inc.
InventorsBenjamin J. Hindson, Billy W. Colston, JR., Kevin D. Ness, Donald A. Masquelier
Life of this patent
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Abstract
System, including methods and apparatus, for performing droplet-based assays that are controlled and/or calibrated using signals detected from droplets.
Claims30
A method of performing a droplet-based assay, comprising:
- detecting a first signal and a second signal from a plurality of droplets;
- identifying accepted droplets of the plurality for which the first signal meets a predefined condition and rejected droplets of the plurality for which the first signal does not meet the predefined condition;
- and
- determining a concentration of a target in the accepted droplets based on the second signal from the accepted droplets, and without any contribution of the second signal from the rejected droplets.
1 more element
A method of performing a droplet-based assay, comprising:
- generating a plurality of droplets containing an assay reporter and a droplet marker;
- detecting from the plurality of droplets a signal representing combined emission of light from the assay reporter and the droplet marker, wherein the assay reporter provides a first integral portion of the signal having an intensity that varies according to whether or not a target is present in a droplet, and wherein the droplet marker provides a second integral portion of the signal having an intensity that is at least substantially independent of whether or not the target is present in a droplet;
- counting a number of the plurality of droplets that are positive or that are negative for the target based on the signal;
- determining a total number for the plurality of droplets based on the signal;
- and
- obtaining a concentration of the target based on the counted number of droplets and the total number of droplets.
3 more elements
A method of performing a droplet-based assay, comprising:
- detecting a signal from a plurality of droplets;
- determining which of the droplets are positive for a target based on the signal;
- counting the positive droplets to establish a number of positive droplets;
- estimating a total number for the plurality of droplets;
- and
- obtaining a concentration of the target based on the number of positive droplets and the total number of droplets.
3 more elements
A method of performing a droplet-based assay, comprising:
- detecting a first signal from a plurality of droplets;
- determining which of the droplets are positive for a target based on the first signal;
- counting the positive droplets to establish a number of positive droplets;
- detecting a second signal from the plurality of droplets, wherein the second signal has an intensity corresponding to a size of each droplet and at least substantially independent of whether or not the target is present in the droplet;
- determining a total number for the plurality of droplets based on the second signal;
- and
- obtaining a concentration of the target based on the number of positive droplets and the total number of droplets.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.