A capillary-array electrophoresis system using side-entry on-column laser irradiation combined with glass rod lenses

We have developed a simple and high-throughput capillary-array electrophoresis system that uses side-entry on-column laser irradiation. The number of capillaries in an array is generally limited by laser-power attenuation along the array due to reflection and divergence. We overcame these problems by placing the capillaries in water and adding glass rod lenses between the capillaries. As a result, up to 45 capillaries could be simultaneously irradiated with a single laser beam and the fluorescence from all the capillaries could be detected with high sensitivity. We demonstrated the high throughput of 12 kbp/h with a 45 capillary array using this system.