Method and apparatus for performing a lateral flow assay

An apparatus for evaluating an analyte in a sample comprising:

• a housing having a receptacle for retaining a test strip, the test strip comprising an analyte measurement zone including an analyte binding agent immobilized therein which is capable of binding to an analyte to be detected, a first control measurement zone including a first control agent immobilized therein which is capable of binding to a control binding agent, and a second control measurement zone including a second control agent immobilized therein which is capable of binding to the same control binding agent as the first control agent in the first control measurement zone, the first and second control measurement zones containing different amounts of first and second control agents immobilized therein;
• a sensor system which measures the amount of first analyte bound in the analyte measurement zone, the amount of control binding agent bound in the first control measurement zone, and the amount of control binding agent bound in the second control measurement zone;
• and
• a processor, memory resources and software that evaluates an amount of analyte in the sample by determining a mathematical relationship between the measured amounts of control binding agent in the first and second control measurement zones and evaluating the amount of analyte in the sample based on the mathematical relationship and the measured amount of analyte immobilized in the analyte measurement zone.