Graphical Diagnostic Panel for Simultaneous Multi-Analyte Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current fast test methods for detecting analytes are limited by their inability to simultaneously test multiple analytes in a sample, lack of internal standards for quality and quantity control, and reduced sensitivity, making them unreliable for visual evaluation and prone to faulty interpretations due to concentration gradients across the test surface.
Innovation Solution
A device with chemically or physically modified surfaces for immobilizing molecules, employing a tangential-touch-test principle where control and detection surfaces come into contact simultaneously with the sample, allowing for visual evaluation and internal standardization to prevent faulty interpretations, enabling the detection of multiple analytes in a single sample with quantification capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple analytes are tested simultaneously in a single sample using current fast test methods, then the productivity increases, but the measurement precision deteriorates due to concentration gradients across the test surface
Solution Approach 1:
The test surface is divided into multiple discrete test zones, each dedicated to detecting a specific analyte. This segmentation prevents concentration gradients from affecting all tests equally, as each zone independently processes the sample. The panel structure with multiple surfaces allows simultaneous testing of multiple analytes while maintaining precision through spatial separation of detection functions.
Solution Approach 2:
Each test zone on the panel is optimized for detecting a specific analyte with appropriate local concentration and reagent composition. The control zones are positioned adjacent to test zones to provide local internal standards that compensate for concentration variations specific to each region, ensuring measurement precision is maintained across all simultaneous tests.
2Reliability
If internal standards are added to control and standardization purposes, then the reliability improves, but the device complexity increases due to multiple surfaces and structured arrangements
Solution Approach 1:
The control and test functions are merged into a single integrated panel structure where control zones and test zones coexist on the same device. Multiple surfaces are arranged in a coordinated graphic pattern that allows simultaneous visualization of both control and test results, reducing the need for separate verification steps and instruments while maintaining reliability through internal standards.
Solution Approach 2:
The panel structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides test zones for analyte detection, control zones for internal verification, and a graphic arrangement for visual evaluation. This multi-functionality is achieved through a single integrated device that combines what would traditionally require multiple separate tests and controls, thereby improving reliability without proportionally increasing complexity.
3Ease of operation
If a graphic arrangement with pairs of symbols is used for visual evaluation, then the ease of operation improves, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase to ensure proper alignment and contact of surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The control and test surfaces are positioned at the same level and arranged to come into contact with the sample simultaneously under identical conditions. This equipotential arrangement ensures that concentration gradients and other environmental factors affect both control and test zones equally, allowing reliable visual comparison. The graphic symbol pairs are designed to be evaluated together, with proper alignment achieved through the simultaneous contact mechanism rather than precise pre-positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The graphic arrangement automatically aligns and evaluates itself through the simultaneous contact of surfaces with the sample. The visual evaluation system uses pairs of symbols where the control symbol and test symbol are positioned to be compared directly, allowing the device to self-verify its operation without requiring external alignment tools or complex manufacturing tolerances. The sample itself serves as the medium that brings the surfaces into proper contact and alignment.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device enables universal, fast, and cost-effective testing for a broad spectrum of analytes in one sample, providing reliable visual evaluation and quantification, even with complex sample matrices, and can be used by laypersons without complex instruments, improving upon the limitations of existing fast test methods.
Implementation Method 1
at least two surfaces are chemically or physically modified on a panel of the device in such a way that said surfaces are provided with means to immobilize molecules or molecule classes and/or mixtures
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a device in which molecules capable of reacting with analytes that are to be detected are immobilized on a surface such that said analytes are bound and can be detected in a subsequent reaction or in several reaction steps. According to the invention, at least two such surfaces are combined in a graphically connected manner, one of said surfaces being used for detecting an analyte and the other one being used for verifying or quantifying the analyte. Said surfaces are embodied so as to simultaneously enter into contact with a sample matrix. The inventive device and a corresponding method can be used for all diagnostic areas, especially in medical diagnostics such as diagnoses of allergies, infections, typifications, DNA/RNA diagnoses, pharmacological and toxicological diagnoses, as well as in food diagnostics, veterinary diagnostics, or environmental diagnostics.