Patent Document ID: 20050202469
Application ID: 11027652
Patent Flag: 0

Claim One:
1. A method of detecting multiple analytes in a sample, said method comprising: (a) exposing a pooled population of subsets of particles to a sample, the particles in each subset having (i) one or more characteristic classification parameters that distinguish the particles of one subset from those of another subset, said classification parameters including fluorescence emission intensities, and (ii) a reactant specific for an analyte of interest; (b) adding at least one secondary reagent to the exposed population; (c) passing the exposed pooled population of subsets of particles through an examination zone; (d) detecting the secondary reagents added to the population; and (e) determining the identity and quantity of each analyte of interest, if present, in the sample by substantially contemporaneously (i) collecting data relating to the one or more characteristic classification parameters, including the fluorescence emission intensities, (ii) collecting data relating to the presence or absence of a complex formed between the reactant and an analyte of interest specific to the reactant, (iii) classifying, without relying exclusively, if at all, on differences in particle size, each particle to its subset, and (iv) quantifying the amount of complex associated with each subset.