Patent ID: 8080430

Claim:
A target substance detection material for detecting a target substance in a specimen, which comprises: a plural number of metal structures, a polymer matrix having a three-dimensional crosslinked structure including polymer chains, a target substance capturing unit capable of binding to the target substance, and a capturing unit binding substance capable of reversibly binding to the target substance capturing unit, wherein the target substance capturing unit and the capturing unit binding substance are immobilized on different sites on the polymer chains, wherein the capturing unit binding substance binds to the target substance capturing unit such that the polymer matrix is retained in a relatively contracted state, wherein the capturing unit binding substance is a target substance analogue which can be formed by structurally or chemically deforming, mutating or modifying the target substance, wherein the dissociation constant between the target substance capturing unit and the capturing unit binding substance is greater than the dissociation constant between the target substance capturing unit and the target substance, and wherein the metal structures are held in the polymer matrix.