Patent ID: 7070920

Claim:
A screening arrangement to test for presence of a compound in a fluid specimen, comprising: a support cartridge having at least one elongate immunoassay test strip mounted thereon to which a fluid specimen is applied, the test strip including a test membrane having at least one test zone that changes reflectivity as a function of the amount of the compound in the specimen, at least one control zone that changes reflectivity upon contact with the specimen, and a background zone between the test and control zones; a screening device for mounting thereon the support cartridge and the test strip associated therewith to test for the presence of the compound when the fluid specimen is applied to the test strip; said screening device being portable, and including: a receiving bracket removably mounting the support cartridge and the test strip carried thereon in a predefined stationary testing position so that an exposed surface of the membrane faces generally upwardly, a photosensitive detector assembly stationarily interconnected to and positioned adjacent said receiving bracket and directed toward a region directly above the upper surface of the test strip for receiving light reflected by the test membrane, said photosensitive detector assembly generating output signals representative of the concentration of light reflected by the test, control and background zones of the test membrane, a mirror arrangement interconnected to and positioned adjacent said receiving bracket and oriented for receiving light reflected from the test membrane and redirecting it to the photosensitive detector assembly, a processor to receive the output signals from the photosensitive detector assembly and configured (1) to evaluate the concentration of light reflected from the control zone to determine if the assay test has been successfully run and (2) to evaluate the concentration of light reflected from the test zone and to generate output data representative of the presence of the compound in the specimen, a visual display disposed adjacent one side of the screening device and connected to the processor for receiving the output data, and means for supplying d.c. voltage to the portable screening device for supplying power for operation thereof; whereby said portable screening device, in conjunction with the support cartridge bearing the test strip thereon, is utilized for testing the fluid specimen while providing flexibility with respect to its handling and location of use.