ABSTRACT
Immunoassays represent an invaluable tool for detection, confirmation and monitoring of disease in the clinical setting. Their major benefits are rapid assay times, simple handling and conclusive results, which can influence clinical decision-making and therefore have a direct impact on patient treatment. The most commonly used clinical immunoassays are based on the analysis of small volumes of patient blood. As blood circulates, it accumulates molecular biomarkers secreted by diseased tissue, providing an excellent means of detecting disease. The major practical advantage of using blood for clinical analysis is its availability through minimally invasive blood collection techniques. Clinical immunoassays are usually performed in small-, medium-, and high volume laboratories within hospitals or in independent centralised laboratories. Often, highly specialised core laboratories are established within large national hospitals and clinical samples are sent off from smaller peripheral hospitals or from general practitioner clinics for analysis in the core laboratory.
