Abstract: A system and method for on-demand production of custom indicator assays including a computing device for receiving a user specified analyte for which the assay will test, a database accessible via the computing device and containing indicator response data for a variety of analytes and potential interferents, and a printer operably connected to the computing device for printing an optimized combination of indicators onto a substrate based on the indicator response data of the database for a user specified analyte and any user specified potential interferents. The method includes receiving in a user interface at least one user specified analyte; querying the database to determine an optimized combination of indicators to test for the at least one user specified analyte; and printing from a printer the optimized combination of indicators onto a substrate.

Abstract: A plastic particle detector for detecting biological and other fluorescent materials is disclosed. The detector detects the fluorescence and scattering signals from these materials using deep UV excitation. The detector is fabricated using plastic materials and exploits the properties of lower manufacturing costs, lower materials costs, light weight, ruggedness and assembly ease offered by plastics, while eliminating stray fluorescence signals ordinarily generated by plastic materials.