Main description:

Analytical chemists and materials scientists will find this a useful addition to their armory. The contributors have sought to highlight the present state of affairs in the validation and quality assurance of fluorescence measurements, as well as the need for future standards. Methods included range from steady-state fluorometry and microfluorometry, microscopy, and micro-array technology, to time-resolved fluorescence and fluorescence depolarization imaging techniques.

Feature:

For the first time, the present state of quality assurance and the need for establishing standards in fluorescence measurements are highlight here

Concepts for establishing these standards particularly for highly regulated fields such as medical diagnostics, drug development, or food control are presented

This first of two volumes covers basic aspects and techniques

Back cover:

The validation and standardization of fluorescence methods is still in its infancy as compared to other prominent analytical and bioanalytical methods. Appropriate quality assurance standards are however a prerequisite for applications in highly regulated fields such as medical diagnostics, drug development, or food analysis.

For the first time, a team of recognized international experts has documented the present status of quality assurance in fluorescence measurements, and outlines concepts for establishing standards in this field.

This first of two volumes covers basic aspects and various techniques such as steady-state and time-resolved fluorometry, polarization techniques, and fluorescent chemical sensors.

Contents:

Need for Standardization of Fluorescence Measurements from the Regulator´s View.- Need for and Metrological Approaches towards Standardization of Fluorescence Measurements from the View of National Metrological Institutes.- Linking Fluorometry to Radiometry: Traceability and Physical and Fluorescence Standards.- Fluorescence Quantum Yield: Traceability, Methods of Determination and Standards.- Long Wavelength and Near-IR Fluorescence: the State-of-the-Art and the Need for Standards.- Surface Fluorescence: The Only Standardized Method of Measuring Luminescence.- Time Resolved Fluorometry: Typical Methods, Challenges, Applications and Standards.- Practical Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy: Avoiding Artifacts and Using Lifetime Standards.- Evaluation of Time Resolved Fluorescence Data: Typical Methods and Problems.- Time Resolved Fluorescence: Novel Technical Solutions and Future Need for Standards.- Fluorescence Depolarization Techniques in Materials Sciences.- Fluorescence Polarization Techniques: Applications, Pitfalls and Future Trends.- Introduction: Classification of Chemical Sensing.- Fiber-Optic and Nanoparticle-Based Fluorescence Sensing: Pitfalls, Self- Referencing, Application, and Future Trends.- Intrinsically Referenced Fluorometric Detection Schemes: Advantages and Applications.- TIRF Sensing, Quality Assurance and Application to Water Analysis.- Fluorescence Sensing and Imaging Using PSPs and TSPs.- Introduction to Fluorescence Microscopy: Methods and Instrumentation, Quality Assurance and Standards.- Need for Standardization of Fluorescence Measurements from the Instrument Manufacturer´s View.- Approaches to the Characterization of Fluorescence Microscopes.- Quantification in Fluorescence Microscopy.- Confocal Spectral Imaging Systems: Instrument Characterization and Comparability of Data.- Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging: Quality Assurance and Standards.- State-of-the-Art and Novel Trends in Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy.- SingleMolecule Spectroscopy: Instrumentation and Multiparameter Detection.- DNA-Microarrays: Applications, Future Trends, and Need for Standardization.- Comparability of Microarray Experiments from the Instrument and the Sample Site and Approaches Towards Standardization.- Microarray Technology: Unresolved Issues and Future Challenges from the Regulator´s View.- Protein Microarrays and Fluorescence Detection: Applications and Limitations.- Flow Cytometry: Instrumentation, Applications, Future Trends and Limitations.- Flow Cytometry Quality Assurance.- Approaches to Quantification in Flow Cytometry.- Immunoassays: Basic Concepts, Physical Chemistry and Validation.- Time-Resolved Fluorescence Immunofluorometric Assays: Instrumentation, Applications, Unresolved Issues and Future Trends.- Particle-Based Assays: Applications and Unresolved Issues.- Recent Advances in Fluorescence Enzyme Detection Methods.- Quantitative PCR: Applications, PitFalls and Unresolved Issues.- High Throughput, Quantitive Measurements In Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization and Immunohistochemistry: Standards, Technology and Applications.- Fluorescence Analysis of Actinides: Instrumentation, Applications, Quantification, Future Trends and Quality Assurance.- Fluorescence Technologies in Biomedical Diagnostics: Instrumentation, Applications and Unresolved Issues.- In vivo Fluorescence Imaging: Applications, Future Trends & Approaches to Standardization