Patent ID: 7270970

Claim:
A method for determining results from an immunoassay, comprising: (a) testing a patient sample for the presence of a target analyte indicative of a condition or risk of having the condition by reacting the sample with antibodies specific for the analyte in a sandwich assay performed on a test strip, in which one of the antibodies is labeled with a detectable label; (b) transmitting light onto the surface of the test strip, wherein the transmitted light is transmitted at an angle normal to the surface; (c) detecting the signal produced by the label in a reflectance reader containing a reader head, wherein the surface for detection of reflected signal in the reader head is positioned parallel to the surface of the test strip to detect light reflected normally from the surface; and (d) processing the data obtained from the reflectance signal obtained from reading the test strip into a result indicative of the presence or absence of analyte or of a predetermined concentration of analyte in a sample.