Signal processing for real-time DNA microarrays

In conventional fluorescent-based microarrays, data is acquired after the completion of the hybridization phase. In this phase the target analytes (i.e., DNA fragments) bind to the capturing probes on the array and supposedly reach a steady state. Accordingly, microarray experiments essentially provide only a single, steady-state data point of the hybridization process. On the other hand, a novel technique (i.e., real-time microarrays) capable of recording the kinetics of hybridization in fluorescent-based microarrays has recently been proposed in [1]. The richness of the information obtained therein promises higher signal-to-noise ratio, smaller estimation error, and broader assay detection dynamic range compared to the conventional microarrays. In the current paper, we model the kinetics of the hybridization process measured by the real-time microarrays, and develop techniques for estimating the amounts of analytes present therein.