Chromatographic device and method

Claim 1

A chromatographic device (20), which comprises in combination: a) a housing (22), b) a strip of bibulous material (24) n f I -removably confined in said housing, c) means (42) attached to the inner walls (38,40) of said housing (22) for supportively confining said strip (24) in said housing so that (i) the front and back of said strip are essentially free from contact with the inner walls (38,40) of said housing and (ii) the capillary action of said strip remains substantially unchanged, d) means (52) incorporated into the bottom end of said housing for enabling contact of a portion of said strip with a liquid medium, and e) means (54) incorporated in said housing for visually observing said strip.

Claim 5

The device of any one of claims 1, 2 and 3 wherein said strip (24) of bibulous material is a paper strip.

Claim 6

The device of any one of the preceding claims wherein said strip (24) of bibulous material contains reagents for conducting a chemical test, an assay or an immunoassay.

Claim 8

A device for determining quantitatively the amount of an analyte in a sample suspected of containing the analyte, which comprises in combination: a) a paper strip (24) containing one or more reagents reactive with the analyte in a liquid medium traversing said strip by capillary action wherein the distance along said strip traversed by the analyte is related to the amount of the analyte in the sample, b) a housing (22) enclosing said strip (24), wherein said strip has a length and width only slightly less than the length and width of the inner walls (38,40) of said housing, c) means (42) attached to said housing (22) for supportively confining said strip in said housing so that (i) the sides of said strip are essentially free from contact with the walls of said housing, (ii) the strip is allowed to expand as it is traversed by the liquid medium, and (iii) the capillary action of said strip remains substantially unchanged, d) means (54) incorporated in said housing (22) for visually observing said strip, e) indicating means (56), cooperative with said means (54) for visually observing said strip (22), for relating the distance traversed by the analyte along said strip to the amount of analyte in said sample, f) means incorporated (52) in the bottom of said housing (22) for enabling a portion of said strip (24) to contact the liquid medium, and g) means incorporated in said housing for determining the distance along said strip traversed by the liquid medium.

Claim 9

A device for determining quantitatively the amount of an analyte in a sample suspected of containing the analyte, which comprises in combination: a) a paper strip (24) containing one or more reagents reactive with the analyte in a liquid medium traversing said strip by capillary action wherein the distance along said strip traversed by the analyte is related to the amount of the analyte in the sample, b) a housing (22) enclosing said strip (24), wherein said strip has a length and width only slightly less than the length and width of the inner walls (38,40) of said housing, c) means (42) attached to said housing (22) for supportively confining said strip in said housing so that (i) the sides of said strip are essentially free from contact with the walls of said housing, (ii) the strip is allowed to expand as it is traversed by the liquid medium, and (iii) the capillary action of said strip remains substantially unchanged, d) means (54) incorporated in said housing (22) for visually observing said strip, e) indicating means (56), cooperative with said means (54) for visually observing said strip (22), for relating the distance traversed by the analyte along said strip to the amount of analyte in said sample, f) means incorporated (52) in the bottom of said housing (22) for enabling a portion of said strip (24) to contact the liquid medium, and g) means incorporated in said housing for determining the distance along said strip traversed by the liquid medium.

Claim 12

A method for determining quantitatively the amount of analyte in a sample suspected of containing said analyte, characterized in that it employs the device (20) of any one of the preceding claims.

Claim 13

A method for determining quantitatively the amount of analyte in a sample suspected of containing said analyte, which comprises: a) contacting said sample in a liquid medium with a portion of the device of any one of the preceding claims, b) allowing said liquid medium to traverse at least a portion of said device, c) reading said indicating means (56) to obtain the distance traversed by the analyte along said strip (24), and d) relating the distance traversed by the analyte along said strip to the amount of analyte in said sample.