Optical immunosensing systems--meeting the market needs

Optical immunosensors and sensing systems are biosensors which produce a quantitative measure of the amount of antibody, antigen or hapten present in a complex sample such as serum or whole blood. The market needs for such devices and their associated instrumentation are reviewed. A brief history of the development of optical immunosensors is presented and the performance of the most well-developed optical immunosensors for meeting these market needs is reviewed. One device, the fluorescent capillary fill device (FCFD) is reviewed in detail with respect to it fulfilling the market needs for an optical immunosensor. Areas for the future development of such sensing systems are also discussed.