Method of assay

1. A method of assay in which a component becomes at least partly bound to a solid body characterised in that an analyte dependent parameter associated with said component is kinetically measured in a direct and continuous manner and the resulting measured analyte dependent kinetic data is continuously manipulated to continuously quantitatively determine an unknown sample for a period of time after the onset of incubation and before the assay reaches a substantially steady state.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said solid body is an optical waveguide.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said analyte dependent kinetic data is an optical parameter.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein said optical parameter is fluorescence emission.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4 wherein said solid body is in the form of a sample containment device.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5 wherein said device is a capillary fill device.

7. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising the steps of

(a) calibrating the assay system for a number x of samples, each of known analyte concentration (C a ), by measuring continuously for each sample independently at a plurality of times (t y ) after the onset of incubation the value of said analyte-dependent kinetic data (P z ),

(b) for an analyte of unknown concentration (C b ) measuring continuously a number n of independent values of said analyte-dependent parameter (P d ) each at time t e after the onset of incubation,

(c) combining the data (P d , t e ) from step (b) with the calibration data (P z , t y , C a ) from step (a) to calculate the unknown dose of analyte (C b ) at time t e .

8. A method as claimed in claim 2 wherein said kinetic data is fluorescence emission.

9. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said solid body is in the form of a sample containment device.

10. A method as claimed in claim 9 wherein said device is a capillary fill device.

11. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said kinetic measurement, data manipulation and determination monitoring are continued until the assay is considered to have reached a substantial steady state.

12. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said kinetic measurement, data manipulation and determination monitoring are discontinued before the assay reaches a substantial steady state.

13. A method of assay in which a component becomes at least partly bound to a solid body, the assay having been calibrated for number x of samples, each of known analyte concentration (C a ), by measuring continuously for each sample independently at a plurality of times (ty) after the onset of incubation the value of an analyte-dependent parameter (P z ), characterized in that the method comprises the steps:

for an analyte of unknown concentration (C b ) measuring in a direct and continuous manner a number n of independent values of an analyte-dependent parameter (P d ) which is associated with said component each at time t e after the onset of incubation, and

manipulating said measured analyte dependent parameter to continuously quantatively determine an unknown sample for a period of time after the onset of incubation and before the assay reaches a substantially steady state by combining the data (P d , t e ) with the calibration data (P z , t y , C a ) to calculate the unknown dose of analyte (C b ) at time t e .