CPC G01N 21/553 (2013.01) [G01N 21/05 (2013.01); G01N 2201/0438 (2013.01); G01N 2201/062 (2013.01)] | 18 Claims |
1. A plasmon resonance system for measuring properties of molecular interactions, comprising:
a sensor chip comprising a detection region;
a flow cell comprising a fluid channel for circulating a fluid across said detection region of said sensor chip;
an actuator configured to control relative movement of said sensor chip with respect to said flow cell between an undocked configuration in which said sensor chip is spaced apart from said flow cell and a docked configuration in which said sensor chip is in contact with said flow cell to seal a volume of space between said sensor chip and said flow cell;
a load sensor configured to determine a force between said sensor chip and said flow cell resulting from movement of said actuator; and
a controller configured to receive a signal from said load sensor, said signal indicative of a magnitude of said force, and to cease movement of said actuator in response to said magnitude exceeding a threshold value, wherein said threshold value corresponds to a force associated with said docked configuration.
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