Analyte detection system and method

1. A system for detecting an analyte of interest in a sample, comprising:

a measurement chamber for metering the sample and including a defined amount of an activator for causing the generation of a product when interacting with the analyte of interest, wherein upon metering of the sample into the measurement chamber, the activator is present in a defined concentration;

a heating element thermally coupled to the measurement chamber;

a controller adapted to control the heating element such that the measurement chamber is maintained at a defined temperature (T d );

a sensor adapted to detect said product;

a timer adapted to time an interaction time between the sample and the activator; and

a processor responsive to the sensor and the timer and adapted to, upon addition of the sample to the measurement chamber, determine an amount of the analyte of interest in the sample from:

a single sensor signal indicative of an amount of said product in the measurement chamber provided by the sensor prior to termination of said interaction, such that when the single sensor signal is captured, the interaction between the analyte of interest and the activator has not yet completed or reached equilibrium;

known interaction kinetics between the analyte of interest and the activator at the defined temperature and the defined concentration; and

the interaction time at time of generation of the single sensor signal.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the measurement chamber is comprised by a disposable cartridge, the system further comprising an analysis unit comprising the heating element, the controller, the sensor, the timer, the processor and a cavity adapted to receive the disposable cartridge.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor contains at least one of the controller and the timer.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a detector for detecting the addition of the sample to the measurement chamber, the timer being responsive to the detector.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the sensor is adapted to generate the single sensor signal in response to a control signal from the timer.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein:

the analyte of interest is an electrolyte, a blood gas, a protein or a nucleic acid; or

the activator is at least one of fMLP (formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine), CRP (cAMP receptor protein), an antigen, an endogenous or exogenous danger-associated molecular pattern and a microbiological pathogen-associated molecular pattern.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the product is human neutrophil lipocalin and the activator is fMLP.

8. A method of detecting the analyte of interest in the sample with the system of claim 1 , the method comprising:

providing the measurement chamber containing the defined amount of the activator for causing the generation of the product when interacting with the analyte of interest;

metering said sample by filling the measurement chamber with the sample, wherein upon metering of the sample into the measurement chamber, the activator is present in a defined concentration;

maintaining the measurement chamber at the defined temperature during the interaction between the analyte of interest and the activator with the heating element and timing the interaction time (t m ) between the sample and the activator with the timer;

sensing the amount of the product with the sensor after a defined interaction time (t m ) prior to termination of said interaction, thereby capturing the single sensor signal, such that when the single sensor signal is captured, the interaction between the analyte of interest and the activator has not yet completed or reached equilibrium; and

determining the amount of the analyte of interest in the sample with the processor from:

the sensed amount of the product;

known interaction kinetics between the analyte of interest and the activator at the defined temperature and the defined concentration; and

the defined interaction time.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the defined temperature is in the range of 25-40° C.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the defined concentration is in the range of 0.003-0.3 μM.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the defined interaction time is less than 15 minutes.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the sample is a bodily fluid.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein:

the analyte of interest is an electrolyte, a blood gas, a protein or a nucleic acid; or

the activator is at least one of fMLP (formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine), CRP (cAMP receptor protein), an antigen, an endogenous or exogenous danger-associated molecular pattern and a microbiological pathogen-associated molecular pattern.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the product is human neutrophil lipocalin and the activator is fMLP.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein providing the measurement chamber containing the defined amount of the activator for causing the generation of the product when interacting with the analyte of interest comprises:

providing a disposable cartridge including the measurement chamber; and

inserting the disposable cartridge in an analysis unit.

16. The method of claim 8 , wherein the defined temperature is in the range of 30-39° C.

17. The method of claim 8 , wherein the defined temperature is in the range of 36-38° C.

18. The method of claim 8 , wherein the defined concentration is in the range of 0.01-0.1 μM.

19. The method of claim 8 , wherein the defined concentration is in the range of 0.025-0.05 μM.

20. The method of claim 8 , wherein the defined interaction time is less than 5 minutes.