Stopped-flow Fluorescence Polarization Immunoassay

A general survey of the analytical application of kinetic methodology in fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) is presented. Stopped-flow mixing technique (SF) allows the initial rate of the immunochemical reaction between the tracer and the antibody to be obtained, which is used as the analytical parameter instead of the equilibrium signal used in conventional FPIA. The instrumentation required is described and the features of the analytical methods proposed are compared with those obtained by conventional FPIA. The usefulness of SF-FPIA for routine screening in clinical, environmental and food analysis is discussed.