Patent ID: 7723124

Claim:
A method for diagnosing conjunctivitis comprising the steps: (a) non-invasively collecting a 0.1-100 μl eye fluid sample with a sterile swab member, (b) directly contacting said swab member with a sample application zone without pretreatment of said sample on a sample analysis device wherein at least a part of said eye fluid sample is released directly into said sample application zone due to said swab member contacting said sample application zone, (c) applying an elution medium to an absorbent pad on said sample analysis device to thereby transfer said sample to a detection zone comprising at least one immobilized binding partner, and (d) analyzing the sample for the presence of at least one analyte related to conjunctivitis selected from the group consisting of at least one causative agent of conjunctivitis, at least one mediator of conjunctivitis, and both at least one causative agent of conjunctivitis and at least one mediator of conjunctivitis, wherein said sample application zone and said detection zone are on a chromatographic test strip, and further comprising a conjugate zone between said absorbent pad and said sample application zone, wherein said conjugate zone comprises at least one labeled binding partner that is able to migrate with the elution medium.