Claims
- 1. A bead comprising:
a non-spherical enhancing particle; and a Raman marker attached thereto, wherein said enhancing particle and said Raman marker are within the bead.
- 2. The bead of claim 1, wherein said non-spherical enhancing particle is rod-shaped or crystalline.
- 3. The bead of claim 1, further comprising at least one receptor on the outside of said bead.
- 4. A bead comprising:
a spherical enhancing particle having a Raman marker attached thereto and inside a bead; and at least one receptor attached to the outer surface of said bead.
- 5. A bead comprising:
a plurality of enhancing particles having at least one Raman marker associated with at least one of said enhancing particles, said plurality of particles within said bead; and at least one receptor attached to the outer surface of said bead.
- 6. An enhancing particle structure, comprising:
at least two particles; at least one linker; and at least one Raman marker, wherein said linker links said at least two particles together and said Raman marker is associated with said linker.
- 7. The enhancing particle structure of claim 6, wherein said at least one Raman marker is associated with at least one of said particles.
- 8. The enhancing particle structure of claim 6, further comprising at least one receptor.
- 9. The enhancing particle structure of claim 8, wherein said at least one receptor is associated with a linker or a particle.
- 10. The enhancing particle structure of claim 9, wherein said Raman marker is associated with said at least one receptor.
- 11. The enhancing particle structure of claim 8, where an analyte is associated with said at least one receptor.
- 12. The bead of claim 4, wherein an analyte is associated with said at least one receptor.
- 13. The enhancing particle structure of claim 6 associated with a bead, and at least one analyte receptor associated with an outer surface of said bead, thereby forming an analyte receptor-bead complex.
- 14. The complex of claim 13, wherein an analyte is associated with said at least one receptor.
- 15. A mixture, comprising:
a plurality of beads, each bead of said plurality having an enhancing particle structure associated therewith, and each enhancing particle structure having a combination of Raman markers different from Raman markers associated with all other of said plurality of beads.
- 16. A biochip, comprising:
a substrate; at least one bead having an enhancing particle structure with an identifying combination of Raman markers thereon; and at least one receptor associated with at least one of said beads.
- 17. A method for detecting an analyte, comprising:
(a) providing at least one bead having an enhancing particle structure with a characteristic Raman marker associated therewith and at least one analyte receptor; (b) providing a sample containing an analyte; (c) permitting said analyte to associate with said receptor; (d) detecting a Raman signal from said Raman marker; and (e) detecting a signal from said analyte.
- 18. The method of claim 17, wherein said Raman marker and said analyte are sufficiently isolated from each other so that substantially no quenching of said signal from said analyte occurs.
- 19. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of associating said signal of said Raman marker from said signal of said analyte.
- 20. The method of claim 17, wherein step (a) provides a plurality of beads, each having a unique combination of Raman markers, and each bead having a unique receptor type, and wherein step (b) provides a plurality of analytes.
- 21. A method for identifying a structure within a biological sample, comprising:
(a) providing at least one enhancing particle structure associated with a Raman marker and a receptor; (b) exposing said biological sample to said at least one enhancing particle structure; (c) obtaining a Raman signal from said Raman marker; and (d) associating said Raman signal with a structure in said biological sample.
- 22. The method of claim 21, wherein said structure is selected from the group consisting of cells, tissues and pathogens.
- 23. The method of claim 22, wherein said cell is selected from the group consisting of muscle cells, connective tissue cells, blood vessel cells, gland cells, cancer cells, and blood cells.
- 24. The method of claim 22, wherein said tissue is selected from the group consisting of extracellular proteins, extracellular lipids, extracellular carbohydrates, and combinations thereof.
- 25. A bead, comprising:
an outer surface; an enhancing particle structure associated with at least one Raman marker, said enhancing particle structure being within said bead; and a synthesized chemical on the outer surface of said bead.
- 26. A system for detecting an analyte associated with a bead, comprising:
at least one bead having:
an enhancing particle structure having a Raman marker; said enhancing particle structure within said bead; at least one analyte receptor; and an analyte associated with said analyte receptor; a Raman reader; and means for detecting said analyte.
- 27. The method of claim 26, wherein said means for detecting said analyte comprises a fluorescence method.
- 28. The system of claim 26, further comprising a computer for analyzing a signal provided by said Raman reader and a signal provided by said means for detecting said analyte.
- 32. A system for analyte detection, comprising:
a substrate having a plurality of beads thereon, each of said beads having:
an enhancing particle structure having a unique combination of Raman markers; and at least one analyte receptor associated with said bead; a Raman reader; an analyte detector associated with each of said beads; means for mapping a signal received from said Raman reader to said analyte receptors associated with each unique combination of Raman markers; and an output device.
- 33. The system of claim 32, further comprising a memory storage device.
- 34. The system of claim 32, having at least one trusted computing space.
- 35. The system of claim 33, having at least one trusted computing space.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Application No. 60/333,303, filed Nov. 18, 2001, and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/925,189, filed Aug. 8, 2001, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/815,909, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/670,453, which claimed priority to U.S. provisional application Serial No. 60/156,195 filed Sep. 27, 1999. Each of these Patent Applications is herein incorporated fully by reference.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60333303 |
Nov 2001 |
US |
|
60156195 |
Sep 1999 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (3)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09925189 |
Aug 2001 |
US |
Child |
10298725 |
Nov 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09815909 |
Mar 2001 |
US |
Child |
10298725 |
Nov 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09670453 |
Sep 2000 |
US |
Child |
10298725 |
Nov 2002 |
US |