Humidity-Compromised Urine Test Strip Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Moisture-sensitive reagents used in urine test strips, particularly those detecting proteases and protease inhibitors, are prone to background reactions and performance degradation due to moisture, making accurate moisture measurement challenging and resulting in unreliable test results.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating an infra-red reference dye that reacts at a distinct wavelength allows for the measurement of reflectance ratios to identify and flag moisture-compromised reagents, ensuring accurate detection of protease and protease inhibitor levels by differentiating between moisture-induced and actual analyte signals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If moisture-sensitive reagents are used to detect proteases and protease inhibitors, then the detection capability is improved, but the reliability deteriorates due to background reactions and performance degradation from moisture
Solution Approach 1:
An infra-red reference dye is introduced as an intermediary substance that does not react with moisture but provides a stable reference signal. This reference dye acts as a mediator to distinguish between moisture-induced changes and actual analyte signals, allowing the system to maintain both detection capability and reliability simultaneously
2Device complexity
If traditional moisture measurement methods are used, then the device complexity is kept low, but the measurement precision deteriorates due to inaccurate moisture content measurement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces direct physical moisture measurement methods with an optical substitution approach. Instead of measuring moisture directly, the system measures the optical reflectance ratio between the test reagent and infra-red reference dye, which indirectly indicates moisture content with high precision while maintaining simple device architecture
3Reliability
If reagents are kept in a dry environment to prevent moisture degradation, then the reliability is improved, but the ease of operation worsens due to storage and handling constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The test strip system performs self-diagnosis by using the infra-red reference dye to automatically detect and flag moisture-compromised reagents during the testing process itself. This self-service capability eliminates the need for complex external storage monitoring systems, maintaining reliability while simplifying operation and storage requirements
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
This method effectively identifies and corrects for moisture-affected results, enhancing the reliability of urine test strips by distinguishing between humidity-induced false positives and actual analyte presence, thereby improving the accuracy of protease and protease inhibitor detection.
Implementation Method 1
Incorporating an infra-red reference dye that reacts at a distinct wavelength allows for the measurement of reflectance ratios
Implementation Method 2
The reflectance at 570 nm is compared with a standard measurement of reflectance at 690 nm
Data Source
AI summary
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.