Integrated analysis systems using low-cost CMOS sensor array as quantitative microimager, spectrophotometer, and luminometer

A significant need exists for assay quantification and imaging solutions that are appropriately scaled for integration with lab-on-a-chip fluid handling devices. Most microsystems currently under development rely on microscopes or other conventional hardware, or costly custom fabricated detector solutions for assay readout. We demonstrate use of a mass-produced 5-megapixel CMOS imager, originally intended for low-cost digital camera applications, as a microscale contact imager, spectrophotometer, and luminometer for microfluidic implementations of typical absorbance and luminescence assays in microfluidic droplets, channels and wells.