Microfluidics based assay device
First Claim
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1. A method of conducting an assay on a sample, the method comprising the steps of:
- introducing a fluid sample into a microfluidic cartridge such that any analyte present in the sample is capable of being bound by an analyte binding agent and a label present in the cartridge, the cartridge comprising;
a sample port for introducing said sample into the cartridge,a substrate comprising one or more microfluidic channels disposed therein, a binding agent within said channel(s) for binding any of said analyte within the sample, and a label for use in detecting an amount of the analyte present in the sample; and
a detection area within or wholly comprising an area in which analyte, analyte binding agent, and label binding occurs to produce analyte binding agent/analyte/label complexes ,detecting a total level of the label that is complexed or uncomplexed to the analyte present in the detection area in order to obtain a first reference/control value;
removing any analyte binding agent/analyte/label complexes from the detection area;
detecting a level of any uncomplexed label and any unreacted label that remains in the detection area after removal of said analyte binding agent/analyte/label complexes; and
determining said analyte concentration by subtracting the level of uncomplexed/unreacted label from the first reference/control value.
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Abstract
A subtractive corrective assay device and methodology, whereby ail required binding and label detection reagents are initially located within the detection zone. Application of a magnetic field is used to selectively remove bound label from the detection zone by means of paramagnetic particles. The relationship between measured label concentration before and after the application of a magnetic field within the detection zone is used to accurately measure analyte concentration within the sample.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method of conducting an assay on a sample, the method comprising the steps of:
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introducing a fluid sample into a microfluidic cartridge such that any analyte present in the sample is capable of being bound by an analyte binding agent and a label present in the cartridge, the cartridge comprising; a sample port for introducing said sample into the cartridge, a substrate comprising one or more microfluidic channels disposed therein, a binding agent within said channel(s) for binding any of said analyte within the sample, and a label for use in detecting an amount of the analyte present in the sample; and a detection area within or wholly comprising an area in which analyte, analyte binding agent, and label binding occurs to produce analyte binding agent/analyte/label complexes , detecting a total level of the label that is complexed or uncomplexed to the analyte present in the detection area in order to obtain a first reference/control value; removing any analyte binding agent/analyte/label complexes from the detection area; detecting a level of any uncomplexed label and any unreacted label that remains in the detection area after removal of said analyte binding agent/analyte/label complexes; and determining said analyte concentration by subtracting the level of uncomplexed/unreacted label from the first reference/control value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification