Patent ID: 9678068
Date: 2017-06-13
CPC Classifications: G01N

Claim:
1. A method for determining a measure of the concentration of an analyte molecule or particle in a fluid sample, the method comprising: providing a fluid sample containing or suspected of containing a plurality of the analyte molecules or particles, each analyte molecule or particle comprising a first epitope and a second epitope; exposing the plurality of the analyte molecules or particles to a first type of binding ligand having an affinity for the first epitope on the analyte molecule or particle and a second type of binding ligand having an affinity for the second epitope on the analyte molecule or particle; forming a complex comprising the analyte molecule or particle associated with both the first type of binding ligand and the second type of binding ligand in addition to being associated with a capture object via a capture component; spatially separating at least a portion of the analyte molecules or particles into a plurality of locations, such that at least some of the plurality of locations contain at least one analyte molecule or particle and a statistically significant fraction of the plurality of locations do not contain any analyte molecules or particles; addressing at least a portion of the plurality of locations and determining the number of said locations containing both the first type of binding ligand and the second type of binding ligand; and determining a measure of the concentration of the analyte molecules or particles in the fluid sample based at least in part on the number of locations containing both the first type of binding ligand and the second type of binding ligand.