An instrument for digital matrix photometry.

A new instrument was conceived and designed for quantitative measurement of chromophoric areas or colored spots such as are produced in (e.g.) thin-layer chromatography. The areas to be measured are subdivided grid-like into small subunits, and the absorbance of each of these is measured. The sum of absorbances for all subunits is directly proportional to the total amount of light-absorbing substances in a spot. The absorbances of the subunits are measured with a photodetector that contains hundreds of microscopically small photodiodes, arranged in a precise geometric array. The photodiode array is interfaced with a computer via an analog-to-digital converter for numerically integrating the individual signals from each photodiode. With this analytical system, quantitation of light-absorbing substance is accurate and precise for areas of different sizes, shapes, and internal irregularity.