Apparatus (100) for the detection of at least one target analyte in a sample to be analysed applied to a diffractive sensor (1), comprising:
- a housing (101) delimiting within it a dark chamber (102);
- a support device (105) suitable for supporting and integrally holding the diffractive sensor (1), said support device (105) being movable within the dark chamber (102) and between the inside and outside of the dark chamber (102);
- a source (103) of laser light suitable for emitting laser light with a wavelength within the visible spectrum in the darkroom (102);
- a screen (107) arranged in the dark chamber (102);
- a vision system (111) configured to capture images on the screen (107);
- and
- a control unit operatively connected to the laser source (103), the support device (105) and the vision system (111), configured to:
- starting from a condition of the support device (105) arranged outside the dark chamber (102) and the diffractive sensor (1) lacking the sample to be analysed positioned on the support device (105), move the support device (105) inside the dark chamber (102) and position it in a predefined position relative to the laser source (103) and the screen (107);
- command the laser source (103) to hit the diffractive sensor (1) lacking the sample to be analysed with a laser light beam with defined characteristics, so that the diffractive sensor (1) lacking the sample to be analysed, hit by the laser light beam, projects a reference diffraction image onto the screen (107), said reference diffraction image being visible to the naked eye and comprising a plurality of dots;
- command the vision system (111) to detect said reference diffraction image;
- move the support device (105) outside the dark chamber (102) for the application to the diffractive sensor (1) of the sample to be analysed;
- move the supporting device (105) with the diffractive sensor (1) with the applied sample to be analysed inside the dark chamber (102) and reposition it to said predefined position relative to the laser source (103) and the screen (107);
- command the laser source (103) to hit the diffractive sensor (1) with the applied sample to be analysed with a laser light beam with the same defined characteristics, so that the diffractive sensor (1) with the applied sample to be analysed, hit by the laser light beam, projects a verification diffraction image onto the screen (107), said verification diffraction image being visible to the naked eye and comprising a plurality of dots;
- compare the verification diffraction image with the reference diffraction image by comparing the number and/or distribution and/or light intensities of the plurality of dots of the verification diffraction image and the reference diffraction image;
- and
- determine the presence of the at least one target analyte in the sample to be analysed if the verification diffraction image is different from the reference diffraction image.