Patent ID: 8329424

Claim:
A method for reducing false results in an assay measurement for determining a concentration of an analyte in a sample suspected of containing the analyte, the method comprising: (a) measuring assay signal wherein the measuring is carried out by means of an assay conducted on a portion of the sample where analyte in the portion of the sample is substantially sequestered by means of addition of a sequestering agent that does not interfere with reagents employed in the assay, wherein the amount of sequestering agent that is added to the sample is that which is sufficient to sequester the analyte so that the signal obtained in an assay on the sample is representative solely of components in the sample and not of analyte, (b) measuring assay signal resulting from the presence of analyte in the sample wherein the measuring is carried out by means of the assay conducted on another portion of the sample where analyte in the portion of the sample is substantially non-sequestered by addition of a releasing agent, and (c) subtracting (a) from (b) to determine the concentration of analyte in the sample.