Detection of bound analyte by magnetic partitioning and masking
First Claim
1. An assay apparatus comprising:
- a chamber having a plurality of walls opaque to radiant energy, except for at least one assay aperture and a control aperture which are transparent to radiant energy, said plurality of walls defining a container for a body of fluid having a mobile solid phase component;
at least one collection element within said chamber, said collection element having a collection area of predetermined dimensions exposed to said body of fluid, said at least one collection area disposed immediately adjacent to a wall of the chamber having said at least one assay aperture to define therebetween a limited assay region; and
at least one control element within said chamber, said control element having the same overall dimensions as said at least one collection element and having a control area exposed to said body of fluid and disposed immediately adjacent to said control aperture on a wall of the chamber to define therebetween a limited control region for comparison with said assay region,said collection area being capable of capturing said mobile solid phase component, and said control area being incapable of capturing said mobile phase component, andsaid limited assay region and said control region constituting a small fraction of said body of fluid.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for determining qualitatively or quantitatively the presence of analyte bound to a separation media without doing a bound/free separation. In the method, the bound fraction is collected in an assay region of a body of liquid which includes the free analyte, and the assay is performed by comparing the radiant-energy response in the assay region to the radiant-energy response in a control region of the body of liquid which is free of bound analyte. The apparatus has a chamber which contains the body of liquid, one or more collection elements and a control element and position in the body of liquid parallel to an opaque wall which has a colliminating slit in registry with each element. Each slit enables sensing of the radiant-energy response from the body of liquid between the slit and its associated elements.
65 Citations
14 Claims
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1. An assay apparatus comprising:
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a chamber having a plurality of walls opaque to radiant energy, except for at least one assay aperture and a control aperture which are transparent to radiant energy, said plurality of walls defining a container for a body of fluid having a mobile solid phase component; at least one collection element within said chamber, said collection element having a collection area of predetermined dimensions exposed to said body of fluid, said at least one collection area disposed immediately adjacent to a wall of the chamber having said at least one assay aperture to define therebetween a limited assay region; and at least one control element within said chamber, said control element having the same overall dimensions as said at least one collection element and having a control area exposed to said body of fluid and disposed immediately adjacent to said control aperture on a wall of the chamber to define therebetween a limited control region for comparison with said assay region, said collection area being capable of capturing said mobile solid phase component, and said control area being incapable of capturing said mobile phase component, and said limited assay region and said control region constituting a small fraction of said body of fluid. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An assay method for determining the presence of an analyte in a sample comprising the steps of:
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combining the sample with a first and second specific binding substance in a chamber of an assay apparatus to form a body of fluid to be assayed, wherein said first specific binding substance is coupled to a mobile solid phase component and binds to said analyte, and said second specific binding substance is labeled with a detectable label and binds either to said analyte or to said first specific binding substance, and wherein said assay apparatus comprises a chamber having a plurality of walls opaque to radiant energy, except for at least one assay aperture and a control aperture which are transparent to radiant energy, at least one collection element within said chamber, said collection element having a collection area of predetermined dimensions exposed to said body of fluid, said at least one collection area disposed immediately adjacent to wall of the chamber having said at least one assay aperture to define therebetween a limited assay region, and at least one control element within said chamber, said control element having the same overall dimensions as said at least one collection element and having a control area exposed to said body of fluid and disposed immediately adjacent to said control aperture on a wall of the chamber to define therebetween a limited control region for comparison with said assay region, said collection area being capable of capturing said mobile solid phase component, and said control area being incapable of capturing said mobile phase component, and said limited assay region and said control region constituting a small fraction of said body of fluid; incubating said body of fluid to produce free label and label bound to said mobile solid phase component in proportion to the amount of analyte in said sample; producing movement of said mobile solid phase component through said assay region and said control region to provide for capture of said mobile solid phase component onto said collection area, but not onto said control area; and determining the presence of said analyte by detecting, through said assay aperture, a first signal generated by free label in said assay region and said label bound to mobile solid phase component captured onto said collection area, and comparing said first signal with a second signal generated by free label in said control region and detected through said control aperture. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification