Patent ID: 8652788

Claim:
An immunoassay for detecting cardiac myocyte damage in a subject from a test sample, the immunoassay comprising the steps of: a) contacting a test sample from a subject suspected of having cardiac myocyte damage with n antibodies (A a n n ) that bind to at least n epitopes on n′ cardiac myocyte antigens (a n′ ) to form n′ (n-antibody:antigen) immuno-complexes (A a 1 1 )(A a 1 2 ) . . . (A a 1 n )(a 1 ), (A a 2 1 )(A a 2 2 ) . . . (A a 2 n )(a 2 ) . . . (A a n′ 1 )(A a n′ 2 ) . . . (A a n′ n )(a n′ ) wherein n is an integer from 1 to 10; and n′ is an integer from 2 to 10; b) contacting said mixture comprising n′ (n-antibody:antigen) immuno-complexes with n″ antibodies (B a n′ n″ ) that bind to n″ epitopes on n′ cardiac myocyte antigens (a n′ ) to form n′ ((n+n″) antibody:antigen) measurable assemblies ((A a 1 1 )(A a 1 2 ) . . . (A a 1 n )((B a 1 1 )(B a 1 2 ) . . . (B a 1 n )(a 1 ), ((A a 2 1 )(A a 2 2 ) . . . (A a 2 n ))((B a 2 1 )(B a 2 2 ) . . . (B a 2 n )(a 2 ), . . . ((A a n′ 1 )(A a n′ 2 ) . . . (A a n′ n ))((B a n″ 1 )(B a n″ 2 ) . . . (B a n″ n )(a n′ ) wherein n and n″ are independently an integer from 1 to 10, and n′ is an integer from 2 to 10, and antibodies A and B bind to (n+n″) different epitopes of a cardiac myocyte antigen; c) measuring an optical, electrical, or change-of-state signal of at least two antibody:antigen measurable assemblies of the n′ ((n+n′) antibody:antigen) measurable assemblies ((A a 1 1 )(A a 1 2 ) . . . (A a 1 n )((B a 1 1 )(B a 1 2 ) . . . (B a 1 n )(a 1 ), ((A a 2 1 )(A a 2 2 ) . . . (A a 2 n ))((B a 2 1 )(B a 2 2 ) . . . (B a 2 n ))(a 2 ), . . . ((A a n′ 1 )(A a n′ 2 ) . . . (A a n′ n ))((B a n″ 1 )(B a n″ 2 ) . . . (B a n″ n ))(a n′ ); and d) detecting cardiac myocyte damage by determining whether the measurement in step (c) exceeds a predetermined level, wherein each antibody A a n′ n binds to at least one epitope on a cardiac myocyte antigen a n′ that is different than any of the epitopes to which the antibodies B a n′ n″ bind.