Patent ID: 9714942
Date: 2017-07-25
CPC Classifications: G01N

Claim:
1. A method for detecting in a sample a target substance comprising an electrically charged moiety or a hydrophilic moiety, comprising: i) mixing the sample with a first bound substance, said first bound substance comprising a stimuli-responsive polymer, a particulate magnetic material, and a first affinity substance, wherein said particulate magnetic material binds to said stimuli-responsive polymer and binds to said first affinity substance, said first affinity substance having affinity to the target substance, and wherein aggregation of said stimuli-responsive polymer is inhibited when the electrically charged moiety or the hydrophilic moiety of said target substance is brought into close proximity to said stimuli-responsive polymer by binding said first affinity substance to said target substance, and wherein the stimuli-responsive polymer aggregates if the target is not bound; ii) placing said sample and first bound substance under predetermined conditions to aggregate the stimuli-responsive polymer followed by iii) applying a magnetic force thereto; and iv) measuring an increase in the intensity of generated magnetic field as compared to the intensity of the magnetic field before applying the magnetic force, and detecting the target substance based on an amount of the increase in the intensity of the magnetic field, wherein in a case where the increase is detected, the target substance is determined not to be present in the sample, and in a case where an increase is not detected, the target substance is determined to be present in the sample.