| DNA Microarrays are used to analyse the DNA sequence of an organism. They are used to determine the activation levels of DNA sections within the entire DNA sequence. These microarrays consist of many spots, one for each DNA section, that give off light in proportion to the activation level of that DNA section, microarray scanning equipment is used to determine light intensity at each of the spots on a DNA microarray. This thesis examines the feasibility of using standard CMOS technology for imaging a DNA microarray. It explains the design of a CMOS imager and the construction of a microarray scanner using this CMOS chip. The results are compared with a commercial microarray scanner. The detection limit for the commercial scanner is 4.49 fluorophores/um 2 and 4590 fluorophores/um2 for the proposed microarray scanner. The detection limit of the proposed scanner is set by various non-idealities in its optical and mechanical components. |
