The long-term goal of the proposed research is to develop a novel quantitative particle agglutination technology for improving the performance of assays for detection of allo-antibodies to red blood cell antigens. The conventional hemagglutination blood typing assays have serious drawbacks such as limited sensitivity, long time of incubation, subjectivity and large amount of reagents. It is in this context that we propos to develop a new technology, which is free from the aforementioned limitations of the conventional hemagglutination assays. The proposed immunoassay is a sensitive and rapid method that utilizes inexpensive instrumentation. Significantly, the method presents a general approach for enhancement and detection of agglutination of particles of different origin, including latex, silica microparticles, and biological cells.
The development of this method will allow one to obtain quantitative results, increase the sensitivity of particle and red cell agglutination assays, and reduce time of analysis without compromising the cost per test. Successful completion of these studies will make available all of the technology needed for a substantial business opportunity to license the technology and manufacture commercial products.
