An optical sensor includes an input part, a fixing part, and a determining part. The input part is provided on the upper side of the sensor. The fixing part on which a carrier is disposed is provided below the input part. The carrier has an acceptor that reacts with an analyte contained in the sample and is fixed on the carrier. The determining part includes a first metal layer, a second metal layer, and a hollow area. The first metal layer is configured to receive an electromagnetic wave. The second metal layer faces the first metal layer. The hollow area is sandwiched between the first metal layer and the second metal layer. The input part, the fixing part, and the hollow area form a part of a passage where the sample flows from the input part to the hollow area.

Portable devices for anti-drug antibodies (ADAs) testing are provided. These devices can be used in various applications, including but not restricted to the following: uniform testing of patients for ADAs; selection of therapeutic drug for patient treatment; evaluation of the need to change therapeutic drug or to apply tolerance regimens; selection of patients for clinical trials; comparison of therapeutic drugs marketed for a given disease and also gene therapy; scientific guidance for discovering therapeutic drugs; therapeutic drug development; postmarketing surveillance of therapeutic drugs.

The present disclosure comprises a device and accompanying method for determining the presence or absence of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a sample. The disclosure includes the following elements: (1) a lateral flow strip for microfluidic manipulation of a sample; (2) a cassette device for containing the lateral flow strip and enabling interface with a detection device; (3) a cassette handler; (4) a luminous reagent delivery device; and (5) an electromagnetic radiation detection device capable of converting chemiluminescent radiation from the lateral flow strip into an output for a user.

The timing of the reaction of moisture-sensitive reagents for detecting the presence of analytes, e.g. leukocytes in urine samples, is used to detect when the reagents have been compromised by excess humidity. The ratio of light reflectance at wavelengths characteristic of the products of reaction between the reagents and the analyte and an infra-red reference dye is measured at two preset times after a urine sample has been applied to a test strip and used to determine whether the reagents have been compromised by excessive humidity. The presence of unusually dark samples is determined from the reflected light at 470 and 625 nm in order to confirm that the test strips are humidity-compromised.

Disclosed are polymer nanofiber sensors for detecting gas, which generates visible color change although a specific gas having a concentration of less than 1 ppm is exposed to the sensor in a short time, in which it is impossible to detect the gas using existing colorimetric sensors, through securing high surface area and porosity, and a method of the same.

An optofluidic diagnostic system and methods for rapid analyte detections. The system comprises an optofluidic sensor array, a test plate and an optical detection cartridge. The sensor array supports one or more distinct sensor units, each having a reactor section designed to temporarily enter a series of different kinds of wells in the test plate. One kind of well is a sample reservoir that holds reagent solution to be transferred into the reactor section. Another kind of well is a drainage chamber that removes reagent solution from the reactor section. A third kind of well is a colorant reservoir that holds a colorant reagent transferable into a reactor section. Finally, the sensor unit is transferred to the optical detection cartridge where it is placed into an isolation booth during the optical detection process so that its flat observation face is stationed in a viewing window opposite an optical detector lens.

A method of analyzing for the presence or concentration of an analyte in a liquid in microgravity is disclosed. The method includes removing a first quantity of the liquid from a first container and passing the removed liquid through a porous pad that includes a reagent that is responsive to the analyte. The presence or concentration of the analyte in the liquid is determined based on a response of the reagent. The removed quantity of liquid is transferred back to the first container or to a second container, and followed by disposal of the first or second container.

Systems and methods for detecting a substance in a fluid and detecting a condition based on the substance in the fluid are described herein. Electromagnetic radiation travels through tapered fibers while substance is bound to the tapered fibers. The phase change of the electromagnetic radiation caused by the bound substance is used to detect the substance in the fluid and to predict the likelihood of a condition based on the bound substance.

Methods for detecting an amount of a rust removing agent in a sample are disclosed, the methods using a colored reagent complex formed from a reaction of a transition metal salt and a salicylate salt or acid, or a derivative thereof. A method includes making a test sample solution comprising the sample and the colored reagent complex, evaluating the visible color and/or absorption value of the test sample solution, and comparing the visible color and/or absorption value of the test sample solution to the visible color and/or absorption value of a reference solution containing a known amount of rust removing agent.

The present disclosure relates to a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) lateral flow immunoassay strip containing: a sample pad into which a sample containing a target material is introduced; a conjugate pad containing a hollow metal nanoprobe for surface-enhanced Raman scattering, on which an antibody that can be coupled to the target material and a Raman marker are immobilized; and a detection pad including a detection region to which a secondary antibody that can be coupled to the target material coupled to the hollow metal nanoprobe is immobilized. Use of the SERS-based lateral flow immunoassay strip according to the present disclosure enables high-sensitivity quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis of the target material from Raman signal measurement depending on the concentration of the target material.