Patent ID: 7933721

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for determining presence or absence of anti-viral antibodies of interest in a sample comprising: receiving data indicating at least one characteristic classification parameter that distinguishes microparticles each having bound thereto a viral group-reactive antibody from other microparticles each having bound thereto the viral group-reactive antibody; classifying microparticles based on at least one characteristic classification parameter; receiving data in a flow instrument indicating presence or absence of a labeled reagent associated with the classified microparticles, wherein the labeled reagent is bound to the anti-viral antibodies of interest, wherein the data received in the flow instrument is obtained by using a set of microparticles to which a viral group-reactive antibody is covalently bound, wherein the viral group-reactive antibody is reactive to a plurality of viruses within a virus group, wherein a subset of the viral group-reactive antibody is bound to a first specific viral antigen and a subset of the viral group-reactive antibody is bound to a second specific viral antigen, wherein the set of microparticles is combined with a sample comprising antibodies, and wherein a labeled reagent detects binding of the anti-viral antibodies of interest from the sample to the first specific viral antigen or the second specific viral antigen bound to the viral group-reactive antibody covalently bound to the microparticle; and determining presence or absence of anti-viral antibodies of interest in the sample based on the data indicating the presence or absence of the labeled reagent associated with the classified microparticles, wherein the method is performed on a suitably programmed computer.