Illumina of San Diego has received US Patent No. 8,333,325, "Optical reader system for substrates having an optically readable code." The described system includes a source light assembly that has a code-reading beam and a fluorescence-excitation beam that are configured to illuminate encoded substrates. According to the patent, the substrates have optically readable codes that provide output signals when the code-reading beam is projected on them. These output signals are indicative of the codes. The reader system also includes a fluorescence detector that is configured to detect fluorescent signals from the substrates and code pickup optics that are configured to project the output signals from the optically readable codes onto a Fourier plane.
Applied Precision of Issaquah, Wash., and Samsung Electronics of Seoul, Korea, have received US Patent No. 8,333,932, "Microarray having bright fiducial mark and method of obtaining optical data from the microarray." This patent describes methods of producing substrates that contain fiducial marks, objects placed in the field of view of an imaging system for use as a point of reference. In addition to such marks, the substrates include a separate area where probe material is configured to be immobilized. According to the patent, the fiducial mark reflects irradiated light at a greater intensity than an intensity of reflected irradiated light from the area that contains the probe material.
Samsung has also received US Patent No. 8,333,935, "Microfluidic device using microfluidic chip and microfluidic device using biomolecule microarray chip." The patent describes a microfluidic device containing a biomolecule array that can be used in various applications, such as immune serum examination. According to the patent, the device includes a rotatable platform, a microfluidic structure consisting of interconnected channels, and valves that control the flow of fluid though those channels. The array is mounted in the platform so that its capture probes bind to the fluid sample as it is flown through the microfluidic structure.
NuGen Technologies of San Carlos, Calif., has received US Patent No. 8,334,116, "Methods and compositions for generation of multiple copies of nucleic acid sequences and methods of detection thereof." Isothermal methods are claimed for detecting and quantifying nucleic acid sequences of interest based on limited primer extension or attachment of oligonucleotide pairs using composite RNA-DNA primers.