Patent ID: 7090802

Claim:
A sampling assembly for simultaneously testing a liquid biological sample for a plurality of hormones, comprising: a sampling membrane comprising a dry porous carrier having a proximal end narrower than a distal end and forming a unidirectional liquid flow channel proceeding from the proximal end along a longitudinal axis to the distal end, the distal end of the sampling membrane comprising a plurality of tines arranged and separated by substantially regular spacing parallel to the longitudinal axis, each tine having a dye zone comprising a dye-tagged hormone-specific antibody at a distal end; wherein the sampling membrane further comprises a set of focusing recesses along each side of the unidirectional flow channel and a set of dispersal recesses between and adjacent to each tine; and a plurality of test strips, each test strip comprising a dry porous carrier communicatively attached to the distal end of each tine; wherein each test strip further forms a unidirectional liquid flow channel proceeding from the proximal end along the longitudinal axis and further comprises a testing zone comprising an immobilized hormone-specific antibody located distally from the dye zone of each tine.