Compact portable apparatus for optical assay

In combination, a battery-operated wireless mobile smartphone device housing a battery and related electrical connector, an externally-accessible electrical connector to the battery, a camera including an image sensor with flash function, and digital display, storage, analysis and transmission functions of the device;

• and an optical assay apparatus comprising a light source, and a mechanical coupler including an electrical connector adapted to mate with the electrical connector of the device to selectively power the light source from the device battery, and a receptacle adapted to sequentially accept multiple samples of materials to be assayed potentially containing target analytes among one or more chemical, biochemical, biological, cellular, and particulate species, wherein target analytes potentially present in a sample are fluorophore-labeled to be identified from optical signals in fluorescence emitted thereby when excited by light of selected wavelength for the target analyte sought to be detected;
• said coupler constituting a housing adapted to encompass the device therein to retain said assay apparatus and said device in sufficiently closely coupled relationship to urge engagement and mating of the electrical connectors of the coupler and the device, to stabilize the coupled relationship of the assay apparatus and the device, and to enable the light source to be powered by the device battery;
• said closely coupled relationship serving further to position the receptacle relative to the optics of both the device camera and the light source so that at any time a sample is present in the receptacle, it is positioned for illumination in one direction from the light source and for emission of fluorescence from fluorophore-labeled analytes in the sample in a direction normal to said one direction onto the camera image sensor, whereby when the device camera function is selectively activated from said device battery, the light source is energized to illuminate such sample and thereby excite fluorophore-labeled target analytes potentially present therein according to the wavelength of the illumination, and the activated camera shutter is opened simultaneously to capture fluorescence emitted by said excited target analytes by the exposed camera image sensor as being representative of the content of target analytes in the sample.