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Screening arrangement for screening immunoassay tests and agglutination tests

  • US 7,803,633 B2
  • Filed: 04/30/2008
  • Issued: 09/28/2010
  • Est. Priority Date: 07/14/1998
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A method of conducting and screening an agglutination test to identify the presence of an analyte in a sample, said test producing agglutination areas and background areas, said method comprising the steps of:

  • mixing said sample with one or more agglutination reactants to form a sample and reactant mixture;

    flowing said sample and reactant mixture through a channel where an agglutination reaction or an agglutination pre-processing reaction occurs;

    receiving the mixture in a reaction chamber where the agglutination reaction occurs or is completed;

    illuminating said reaction chamber;

    detecting the intensity of light which is reflected from said agglutination areas and said background areas of said reaction chamber;

    representing the intensity of said detected light in a digitized data array;

    determining a threshold intensity by analyzing the distribution of pixel intensities across said data array to determine the intensity below or above which a pre-set percentage of pixels lie;

    thresholding said data array using the threshold intensity to distinguish between said background areas and said agglutination areas;

    identifying said agglutination areas;

    estimating the number of said agglutination areas;

    determining whether said agglutination areas exhibit a statistically significant result; and

    outputting said results.

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