| abstract |
The present invention pertains to a method to measure thermo-optical characteristics of particles in a solution. The method comprises the steps of: (a) providing a sample solution comprising marked particles in a solution, preferably located within a measurement chamber (82); (b) providing a temperature control system, preferably comprising a heating element (85), for creating a temperature gradient within said sample solution by contact heating, electrical heating and/or cooling; (c) exciting, using an excitation source (32), fluorescence of said particles and detecting, using a detector (31), fluorescence of the marked particles at a first time; (d) creating a temperature gradient within the sample solution by means of the temperature control system (45); (e) exciting fluorescence and detecting fluorescence of the marked particles in the sample solution at a, preferably predetermined, second time and/or at a predetermined location within the temperature gradient, and (f) characterizing the particles based on said two detections.The present invention also pertains to a device for measuring thermo-optical characteristics of particles in a solution. |