Technology

Understanding the AQT90 FLEX immunoassay analyser 

• Antibodies are proteins of the immune system produced with high specificity in defence against foreign antigens. An antibody has a strong binding affinity for one antigen.


• An immunoassay is a biochemical test that quantitatively determines the level of an antigen in blood.


• The AQT90 FLEX analyser utilises a time-resolved fluorescence method to detect sandwich complexes formed between capture antibodies, europium chelate-labelled fluorescent tracer antibodies, and the antigen of interest.

• The AQT90 FLEX analyser’s photo-multiplier tube computes the number of photons (particles of light) emitted by europium chelate. The concentration of the antigen in the blood is proportional to the level of fluorescence generated by the label.

• The AQT90 FLEX analyser fully automates the measurement process from beginning to end: aspiration of the whole blood sample, dispensing the sample plus assay buffer into the assay specific dry chemistry sample cup, incubation, mixing and agitation, washing the sample, removing unbound antigen and tracer antibody, drying, and finally, measuring fluorescence via detection of emitted fluorescence.