Patent ID: 7968349

Claim:
A process for the detection of an analyte in a sample, comprising a) bringing the sample into contact with a first ligand which binds specifically to the analyte and which is immobilized on a substrate; and b) prior to or subsequent to step (a), bringing the sample into contact with a second ligand which binds specifically to the analyte and which includes a label; wherein the substrate comprises a holographic sensor comprising a support medium having a hologram disposed therein or thereon and the label causes an optical property of the sensor to change by interaction of the sensor with the label or, following the additional step of contacting the substrate with a reagent, by interaction of the sensor with a species produced by reaction of the label with the reagent, thereby indicating the presence of bound analyte, wherein the process further corn rises the ste of: c) washing the sensor to remove unreacted labeled second ligand, wherein the support medium is a hydrogel matrix, and wherein the first ligand is in the hydrogel matrix.