Method of detecting the presence of a biomarker in a sample of a flowable substance, a detector assembly for use in the detection of a biomarker in a sample of a flowable substance and a detector unit for use in the detection of the presence of a biomarker in a sample of a flowable substance

A method of detecting the presence of a biomarker in a sample of a flowable substance, the method comprising:

• providing a receiver body shaped to define a receiving chamber having an inlet opening through which the flowable substance can enter the receiving chamber and the receiving chamber further having an outlet opening through which a flowable substance can leave the receiving chamber when the outlet opening is not blocked, the receiving chamber having a maximum capacity for holding a volume of the flowable substance when the outlet opening is blocked;
• providing a detector device;
• and
• supplying a quantity of the flowable substance to the receiving chamber and causing it to pass through the outlet opening and come into contact with the detector, wherein:
• a guide for the receiver body is provided, which guide is shaped to cooperate with the receiver body such that the receiver body is configured to move relative to the guide in a movement from a first position in which the outlet opening is blocked to a second position in which the outlet opening is not blocked, wherein the path of which movement is determined by cooperating surfaces of the guide and the receiver body;
• a cover is provided, which cover is connected to the guide in such a way that the guide and the cover are in predefined, preferably fixed, positions relative to each other, the receiver body is in contact with the cover at least when the receiver body is in its first position, and which cover is further shaped to define an opening that can be made to at least partially coincide with the inlet opening of the receiving chamber when the receiver body is in the first position and which opening in the cover is limited by a circumferential wall that forms an extension of the receiving chamber when the receiver body is in its first position such that the receiving chamber and the opening in the cover can cooperate to hold a quantity of the flowable substance that exceeds the maximum capacity of the receiving chamber itself when the receiver body is in its first position;
• the detector device is placed in a position which is adjacent the outlet opening of the receiving chamber when the receiver body is in its second position such that flowable substance can leave the receiving chamber and come into contact with the detector device;
• and
• the method further comprises delivering a quantity of the flowable substance into the receiving chamber while the receiver body is in its first position and subsequently causing the receiver body to move along the guide from the first position to the second position such that any quantity of the flowable substance that has been delivered to the receiving chamber and which exceeds the maximum capacity of the receiving chamber itself will be separated from the rest of the flowable substance that has been delivered to the receiving chamber and instead enter an overflow chamber whereby the quantity of flowable substance which remains in the receiving chamber will be a metered quantity that is free to leave the receiving chamber and come into contact with the detector device, wherein the receiver body is provided within a detector assembly and the detector assembly comprises members having surfaces that block the outlet and the inlet respectively in the path of travel of the receiver body between the first position and the second position.