Abstract: Well plates adaptable for specimen sampling in the biological, chemical and pharmaceutical sciences are fabricated by dissolving fusedly-retained cores from the cladding material of a fused fiber plate to define a capillary plate including first and second faces and a plurality of through-voids into which fluidic samples may be deposited for analysis. Closed-bottom wells are defined by bonding one of the first and second faces to a base plate or by securing into well-sealing positions over the open ends of selected through-voids optical elements, each of which optical elements exhibits a predetermined optical property. Cladding material including reducible ions is exposed to a reducing atmosphere in order to blacken selected regions of a well plate, thereby enhancing sample analysis by reducing such disadvantageous phenomena as autofluorescence.

Abstract: Well plates adaptable for specimen sampling in the biological, chemical and pharmaceutical sciences are fabricated by dissolving fusedly-retained cores from the cladding material of a fused fiber plate to define a capillary plate including first and second faces and a plurality of through-voids into which fluidic samples may be deposited for analysis. Closed-bottom wells are defined by bonding one of the first and second faces to a base plate or by securing into well-sealing positions over the open ends of selected through-voids optical elements, each of which optical elements exhibits a predetermined optical property. Cladding material including reducible ions is exposed to a reduction atmosphere in order to blacken selected regions of a well plate, thereby enhancing sample analysis by reducing such disadvantageous phenomena as autofluorescence.

Abstract: A light-conductive rod element includes a solid rod-shaped body having a side surface extending along a longitudinal rod axis between a first light-input end and a second light-redirecting end. The rod element is fabricated from a material exhibiting a refractive index greater than the refractive index of air in order to facilitate total internal reflection. The light-redirecting end includes at least a first planar face extending along a first plane definable by a first normal that is pitched with respect to the rod axis such that light propagating by total internal reflection between the first and second ends that impinges on the interface defined by the rod-element material and air at the first planar face is redirected by at least one of (i) reflection and (ii) refraction. Refracted components of light exit the rod body through the first planar face and reflected components of light exit the rod body through the side surface.