Low light level in vitro monitoring of cellular and antigen-antibody reactions using a photon detection camera system — New perspectives for clinical diagnosis and research

Summary This article briefly describes the use of a photon counting system (ARGUS-100) in the detection of low levels of light. The ARGUS-100 was used in determining ATP in cell sections from tumor tissues and in measuring a luminescenceenhanced immunoluminometric assay, using ferritin as the analyte, based on the luminol-peroxide-4-iodophenol reaction with peroxidase as the enzyme. The aim is not so much the presentation of data, but rather to show the potentials of the photon counting camera in increasing our knowledge of the cellular and subcellular levels, as well as lowering the detection limits in already sensitive systems, such as immunoassays.Supported by the Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie (DFVLR grant No. 01Z08801)