THE SURFACE PLASMON IMMUNOASSAY FOR MEASUREMENT OF HCG

THE SURFACE PLASMON RESONANCE PHENOMENON WILL BE EXPLORED TO DEVELOP A QUANTITATIVE, SENSITIVE, ASSAY SYSTEM FOR REPRODUCTIVE HORMONES OF CLINICAL INTEREST. THE APPROACH CAN ATTAIN, WITH RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE INSTRUMENTATION, A SENSITIVITY LIMIT COMPARABLE TO EXISTING ASSAY METHODOLOGIES, WITHOUT THE USE OF DYES, RADIOISOTOPES OR ENZYMES FOR SPECIFIC SIGNAL GENERATION. PART OF THE PHASE I RESEARCH WORK WILL ENTAIL CHOICE OF REAGENTS AND DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPACT OPTICAL INSTRUMENT FOR PERFORMING HORMONE QUANTIFICATIONS OF SERUM SAMPLES USING THE SURFACE PLASMON IMMUNOASSAY (SPI). DURING THIS STAGE OF THE RESEARCH, HUMAN CHORIONIC GONADOTROPIN (HCG), WILL BE USED AS A MODEL HORMONE TO CHARACTERIZE THE ASSAY PERFORMANCE IN TERMS OF SENSITIVITY, SPECIFICITY, ACCURACY, AND REPRODUCIBILITY. IN THE PHASE II STUDY, THE APPROACH WILL BE EXTENDED TO INCLUDE OTHER HORMONES OF CLINICAL INTEREST AND THE POSSIBILITY FOR REAL-TIME HORMONE QUANTIFICATION WILL BE INVESTIGATED.