ABSTRACT
Traditionally, a diagnostic assay system is based on wet chemistry in which the absorbance produced in a reaction mixture is read with an instrument. In dryphase format either the color is read visually and compared to a color chart (qualitative test), or the reflectance from the matrix is read with an instrument. The wet-chemistry systems are usually designed for fast-throughput, highly automated applications performed in hospital and reference laboratories [1]. The dry-phase strips, using either a dip stick format or reagent strips, are designed for point-of-care use in the physician’s office or at home [2]. There are also noninstrumented dry-phase analytical devices aimed at the point-of-care applications [3-4], but they either give qualitative results or require multiple-step user intervention. There is a need for a simple noninstrumented device that can produce permanent quantitative results with no operator intervention other than the initial deposit of blood sample. We describe here an analytical platform that is capable of doing that. The platform is based on filtration and precipitation technology coupled with a detection film built on woven fabric. Our experience indicates that this platform is adaptable to a multiple number of clinical, enzymatic, and immunochemical assays.
