Method and apparatus for signalling the introduction of chemical reaction components into a chemical analyzing system
First Claim
1. In a method of combining components of a chemical reaction which includes the steps of introducing the reaction components into a reaction zone to initiate the chemical reaction and measuring a characteristic of the reaction, the improved method of signalling the start of the chemical reaction comprising the steps of:
- prior to initiating the chemical reaction adding a tagging substance to at least the reaction component last introduced into the reaction zone, the tagging substance remaining chemically isolated from the reaction; and
monitoring the reaction zone for the presence of the tagging substance and upon detecting the tagging substance generating a signal indicating the start of the chemical reaction.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for chemically analyzing antigens or antibodies by initiating an antigen-antibody reaction in a reaction zone and measuring the light scattered by a precipitate produced by the reaction to determine the antigen or antibody concentration. In order to signal the start of the reaction, a fluorescent tagging substance is included with at least the last antigen or antibody reaction component introduced into the reaction zone. The fluorescent tagging substance does not enter into the antigen-antibody reaction and is selected to emit light in a bandwidth spectrally separated from the light scattered by the precipitate. The reaction zone is monitored for the presence of the tagging substance, and when the substance is detected a trigger signal is generated to signal the start of the reaction. By including a tagging substance with each component of the reaction and by monitoring the reaction zone for the presence of each tagging substance, a trigger signal is generated only if each reaction component is present.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. In a method of combining components of a chemical reaction which includes the steps of introducing the reaction components into a reaction zone to initiate the chemical reaction and measuring a characteristic of the reaction, the improved method of signalling the start of the chemical reaction comprising the steps of:
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prior to initiating the chemical reaction adding a tagging substance to at least the reaction component last introduced into the reaction zone, the tagging substance remaining chemically isolated from the reaction; and monitoring the reaction zone for the presence of the tagging substance and upon detecting the tagging substance generating a signal indicating the start of the chemical reaction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An electrochemical system for detecting the combining of components of a chemical reaction comprising:
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a reaction chamber for serially receiving a plurality of said components for a chemical reaction within the chamber; means operatively coupled to said chamber for measuring a characteristic of said chemical reaction; a tagging substance in at least a last one of said components received in said chamber and chemically isolated from said reaction; separate means operatively coupled to said chamber and insensitive to said characteristic of said chemical reaction for detecting said tagging substance; triggering means responsive to a detection of said tagging substance for generating an electrical signal indicative of a combining of said components and a start of said chemical reaction; electrical signal responsive means; and means for supplying said electrical signal to said electrical signal responsive means. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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13. A nephelometric chemical analyzer comprising:
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a reaction chamber for receiving components for a chemical reaction within the chamber; excitation means for directing a beam of light having first and second separate spectral bands into the reaction chamber; detection means for detecting light scattered by the contents of the reaction chamber within said first spectral band to measure a scattered light characteristic of the reaction for nephelometric analysis; a fluorescent tagging substance in at least a last one of said components introduced into the reaction chamber and chemically isolated from the chemical reaction, said fluorescent tagging substance absorbing light in said second spectral band and emitting light in a third spectral band separate from each of said first and second spectral bands; separate means operatively coupled to said reaction chamber and insensitive to said scattered light characteristic in said first spectral band for detecting fluorescent light issuing from the fluorescent tagging substance in said third spectral band; triggering means responsive to a detection of the tagging substance for generating an electrical signal indicative of a combining of said components and start of said chemical reaction; a clock; and means for supplying said electrical signal as a triggering input to start said clock. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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Specification