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US 7,547,554 B2Granted
Method and device for the detection of very small quantities of particles
AssigneeFriedrich Werner
InventorConstantin Odefey
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to a method and a device for detecting very small quantities of particles. The inventive method is based on a detection of antigen-antibody reaction products and provides a very high detection sensitivity all the way to the femtomolar or attomolar range.
Claims8
A method for the detection of antigen-antibody precipitate concentration which comprises:
- providing a sample that contains antigens with a given maximum particle size, the antigens having at least two antibody binding sites;
- providing a fluid containing antibodies that have a given maximum particle size;
- contacting the sample with the fluid containing the antibodies, which yields a reaction mixture where in the presence of antigens having at least two antibody binding sites the antibodies can form an antigen-antibody precipitate;
- directing a light beam through the reaction mixture;
- detecting a signal by measuring with a photodetector the extinction at the light-dark boundary of the cone of light that is produced when the light generated by the laser is passing through a measuring cell containing the reaction mixture, the signal strength depending on the antigen-antibody precipitate concentration.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.