Biological analysis arrangement and approach therefor

An integrated microcircuit assaying arrangement comprising:

• a circuit-supporting substrate;
• a plurality of microwells in said substrate, said microwells configured to confine a biological sample;
• a light detection circuit on the substrate and arranged to detect an optical characteristic of a biological sample and generate a signal as a function of the detected optical characteristic, and wherein the light detection circuit includes a photodetector circuit that electrically responds to light from the biological sample and generates the signal;
• a processing circuit communicatively coupled to the light detection circuit to receive the signal and including an instruction-responsive processor on the substrate and adapted to process the signal and to provide an assay output corresponding to the detected optical characteristics;
• and
• a temperature controller configured and arranged to control the temperature of the light detection circuit.

A microcircuit assaying chip comprising:

• a light detection circuit on the chip and adapted to detect light from a biological sample and generate a signal including pixel data representing the detected light;
• a processing circuit communicatively coupled to the detection circuit for receiving the pixel data and including a processor on the chip, the processor adapted to process the pixel data and to provide an output corresponding to the detected light represented by the pixel data;
• and
• a plurality of microwells in the chip, said microwells configured to confine a biological sample, wherein the light detection circuit includes a photosensitive area that is matched to the microwell size.

An assaying arrangement comprising:

• a sample preparation arrangement configured and arranged for preparation of a biological sample for assaying;
• a substrate defining a plurality of microwells, said microwells configured to confine a biological sample;
• a memory circuit on the substrate;
• an array of pixels on the substrate, each pixel including a photodetector adapted to detect light from the sample and to read out data corresponding to the detected light;
• a decoder circuit adapted to receive the data read out from the pixels and to generate a signal in response to the data, the generated signal including data linking the location of the pixels in the array to the light detected at each pixel;
• an analog-to-digital converter adapted to convert analog data from the decoder circuit into digital data, the memory circuit being adapted to store the converted data;
• and
• a processor on the substrate, communicatively coupled to the memory circuit and adapted to receive and process the stored digital data and to provide an output corresponding to the detected optical characteristic.

An integrated microcircuit assaying arrangement comprising:

• a circuit-supporting substrate;
• a light detection and an instruction-responsive signal-processing circuit, including MOS-based circuitry supported on the substrate and arranged to
• detect an optical characteristic of a biological sample and generate a signal as a function of the detected optical characteristic,
• receive and process the signal and, in response, provide an assay output corresponding to the detected optical characteristic;
• and
• a plurality of microwells in said substrate, said microwells configured to confine a biological sample.