Development

To develop an assay you need two analyte specific reagents a biotinylated capture reagent in most cases an antibody and secondly you need a detection conjugate which is produced by coating gold colloid with your second analyte specific reagent again in most cases an antibody.

Once the two reagents are produced you then need to define the reagent concentrations required. In most cases a final capture reagent concentration will be around 5-10 µl/ml applied to the gRAD. This can be further optimized, the detection conjugate in most cases will have an optical density of around 0.4-0.6 AU/cm. A detailed development procedure is provided for you to print or edit to your specific requirements.

Quantification

RapidAssays focus is to make your assay development as painless as possible. To this end we offer two quantification systems, a mobile reader system (ESE reader) that allows you to carry out field testing. The reader can be used as a standalone unit or conected to a computer for easier data processing. RapidAssays has also developed a ReaderLess Quantification system (RLQ) a free to use homepage based system that allows you to quantify your gRAD assays using a flat bed scanner of other imaging system negating the need for a reader.

The ESE reader is supplied with software that allows you to carry out four standard quantifications of the gRADs: test line maximal signal high; ratio of test line to control line maximal signal; test line signal area under the curve; ratio of test line to control line signal area under the curve. Once you have established your assay you can via this homepage fill out the form with the calibration information and we will send you a calibration file that allows for the direct quantification of your test.

The RLQ system allows you to develop a gRAD assay without the need for investing a reader. RLQ is perfect for laboratory applications that take advantage of the ease and simplicity of the gRAD system. To use the RLQ system you collect an image of the run gRAD either using a flat bed scanner or other documentation systems. The image obtained can contain up to 50 gRADs, however it is recommended to have a maximum of 10. The image is then uploaded to either to the calibration or quantification pages. The RLQ system scans the images finding the gRADs and allocates a line for each device. If you are using the calibration page then you select the assay specific parameters and input the analyte concentrations tested. The RLQ system then produces a calibration curve which is saved on your computer. To quantify unknown samples the obtained image is uploaded along with the calibration file for that specific assay, the gRADs are listed with the quantification information including the analyte concentration.