Method for reducing quantification errors caused by reaction volume deviations in digital polymerase chain reaction

1. A method for reducing quantification errors caused by reaction volume deviations in digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR), wherein the amount or concentration of a nucleic acid of interest is quantified in an array of reaction areas, the method comprising

a) adding a fill control marker to each reaction area of the array of reaction areas used in dPCR;

b) quantifying the reaction volume in each reaction area; and

c) calculating the amount or concentration of the nucleic acid of interest as a number of nucleic acid(s) as determined by dPCR in a volume or per volume, wherein the volume is the sum of the reaction volumes as determined in step b).

2. A method for determining the amount or concentration of a nucleic acid of interest in a sample, the method comprising the steps of:

a) providing a sample suspected of containing the nucleic acid of interest;

b) performing a dPCR with the sample in each reaction area of an array of reaction areas;

c) quantifying the reaction volume in each reaction area; and

d) calculating the amount or concentration of the nucleic acid of interest as a number of nucleic acid(s) as determined in step b) in a volume or per volume, wherein the volume is the sum of the reaction volumes as determined in step c).

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reaction volume is quantified by quantifying a fill control marker present in each reaction area.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the signal of the fill control marker is proportional to the reaction volume in the reaction area.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein a correction factor for each reaction area is calculated based on the signal of the fill control marker measured and the signal of the fill control marker expected and wherein the correction factor accounting for a reaction volume deviation is applied to the respective reaction area.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reaction volume in each reaction area is quantified based on the height of the reaction volume in the reaction area.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein a reaction area is identified as invalid, if the quantity of the fill control marker in the reaction area does not match a threshold.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the reaction area is identified as invalid if the quantity of the fill control marker in the reaction area is below a lower threshold.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the reaction area is identified as invalid if the quantity of the fill control marker in the reaction area is above an upper threshold.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fill control marker is added to the PCR reaction mix before being distributed to the reaction areas.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fill control marker is a fluorescence marker or an absorbance marker.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the fill control marker has one or more of the following characteristics:

has fluorescence and/or absorbance properties different from that of one or more dPCR probe(s);

has an excitation wavelength or an emission wavelength identical to a target probe fluorescence marker used in the dPCR; or

has a Stokes-shift of at least 100 nm.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid of interest has one or more of the following characteristics:

is a nucleic acid selected from the group consisting of DNA, cDNA, RNA and a mixture thereof; or

is indicative of a microorganism, a cell, a virus, a bacterium, a fungus, a mammal species, a genetic status or a disease.

14. The method of claim 2 , wherein the sample has been obtained from a cell culture or a source suspected of being contaminated.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the sample comprises a body fluid, blood, blood plasma, blood serum, urine, bile, cerebrospinal fluid, a swab, a clinical specimen, an organ sample or a tissue sample.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reaction area is selected from the group consisting of a miniaturized chamber of a microarray; a miniaturized chamber of a nanoarray; a chamber of a microfluidic device; a microwell on a chip; a nanowell on a chip; a microwell in a capillary; a nanowell in a capillary; a nucleic acid binding surface; and a bead.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the array of reaction areas comprises at least 100 reaction areas.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the array of reaction areas comprises at least 100-100,000 reaction areas.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the array of reaction areas comprises at least 10,000-100,000 reaction areas.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dPCR involves the use of one or more fluorescent dPCR probes in order to detect one or more nucleic acid(s) of interest, alone or in combination with a quencher.