Homogeneous bioassay using acoustic emission spectroscopy

Abstract

A system and method for homogeneous bioassay uses acoustic energy emissions. A measurement cell is designed for binding reactions of mobile biorecognition molecules. The binding reaction contained in the measurement cell is for example a ligand/receptor binding reaction or a complementary nucleic acid binding reaction. A passive acoustic energy transducer is coupled to the measurement cell for detecting acoustic energy generated by the binding reaction of mobile biorecognition molecules. The passive acoustic energy transducer generates a corresponding analog electrical signal. A signal conditioner coupled to the passive acoustic energy transducer filters and amplifies the electrical signal. A signal analyzer determines spectra of the conditioned electrical signal corresponding to characteristic acoustic energy emissions of the binding reaction of mobile biorecognition molecules. The transducer and signal analyzer may be constructed for spectral analysis of a broad band frequency spectrum in the frequency domain or spectral waveform analysis of a narrow band amplitude spectrum in the time domain. The homogeneous bioassay is applicable for example to ligand/receptor binding reactions such as antigen/antibody binding reactions and enzyme/substrate binding reactions and to complementary nucleic acid binding reactions such as DNA/DNA and RNA/DNA binding reactions.