AUTOMATED IMMUNOASSAY CASSETTE, APPARATUS AND METHOD

摘要

An immunoassay cassette, apparatus, and method for detecting an analyte in a liquid body-fluid sample are disclosed. The cassette has a body and a support (14) mounted on the body, for movement toward and away from asample transfer position. Sample supplied to a sample well in the cassette body is taken up by a reagent reservoir (24) containing a first reagent composition effective to form a modified sample. The support (14) provides a reagent strip (30) having a transfer zone (32) that is brought into contact with the reservoir (24), when the support is in the transfer position, a detection zone (34) located downstream of the transfer zone (32), and a second reagent composition effective to react with the modified sample to form a detectable analyte-dependent product. By controlling movement of the support, volume and rate of sample flow from the reservoir to the strip can be controlled to optimize and/or standardize sample-transfer conditions in the assay.