Claims
- 1. A method of testing an animal selected from the group consisting of testing a female animal for pregnancy and identifying the sex of the animal, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a first liquid medium and then introducing a bodily fluid from the animal into said first liquid medium to provide a first liquid mixture and then providing a solid surface with an antibody attached thereto and contacting said first liquid mixture with the solid surface; (b) providing a reporter hormone solution and displacing the solid surface from said first liquid mixture and placing said solid surface in contact with the reporter hormone solution; (c) contacting the solid surface with an indicating solution; and (d) then making a determination regarding pregnancy or the sex of the animal based on the appearance of either the solid surface or the indicating solution.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein between steps (b) and (c) there is added the additional step (e) of washing the solid surface.
- 3. The method of claim 1 wherein in step (c) the indicating solution causes a change of appearance in the solid surface, and in step (d) the determination regarding pregnancy or sex is based on the appearance of the solid surface.
- 4. The method of claim 1 wherein in step (c) there is a change in the appearance of the indicating solution itself, and in step (d) the determination regarding pregnancy or sex is based on the appearance of the indicating solution.
- 5. The method of claim 3 wherein in step (d) a visual comparison means is provided in determining the appearance of the solid surface.
- 6. The method of claim 4 wherein in step (d) a visual comparison means is provided for assistance in determining the appearance of the indicating solution.
- 7. The method of claim 1 wherein in step (a) the first liquid medium is a buffer liquid.
- 8. The method of claim 7 wherein the buffer liquid is selected from the group consisting of any buffer in which the antibody, hormone and solid phase are stable.
- 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the bodily fluid is selected from the group consisting of blood, plasma, urine, milk and saliva.
- 10. The method of claim 9 wherein the bodily fluid is saliva.
- 11. The method of claim 1 wherein in step (a) there is an indicating hormone present in the bodily fluid which is related to pregnancy or sex, and the amount of antibody on the solid surface is proportional to the amount of indicating hormone which would be present at complete gestation.
- 12. The method of claim 11 wherein the indicating hormone is selected from the group consisting of progesterone and estrogen and similar hormones found in bodily fluids that are indicative of either pregnancy or sex of the animal.
- 13. The method of claim 11 wherein in step (a) the indicating hormone reacts with at least some of the antibody on the solid surface.
- 14. The method of claim 13 wherein in step (b) the reporter hormone binds any antibody with which the indicating hormone does not bind.
- 15. The method of claim 1 wherein the reporter hormone is selected from the group consisting of any compound that when reacted with the indicating hormone, change color.
- 16. The method of claim 12 wherein on the completion of step (b) the occurrence of reporter hormone on the solid surface is proportional to the occurrence of indicating hormone in the bodily fluid.
- 17. The method of claim 1 wherein in step (c) the appearance which is related to the amount of the reporter hormone contacted is a color which becomes more intense depending on the amount of reporter hormone which is contacted.
- 18. The method of claim 1 wherein the female is a female mammal in the case of the pregnancy test or a monomophic animal in the case of the sex identification test.
- 19. A method of testing an animal for pregnancy or identifying the sex of the animal comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a first liquid medium, a reporter hormone solution, a solid surface supporting an antibody and then adding to said first liquid medium either before or after adding the reporter hormone, a bodily fluid from said female mammal, wherein the animal is a member of a species of animal and for said species of animal there is a known concentration of an indicating hormone present in the bodily fluid at a complete gestation or between male and female animals, and the amount of antibody on the solid surface approximately corresponds to said hormone present at a pregnancy of full term for said species; (b) after the addition of both the reporter hormone and the bodily fluid to the first liquid medium, contacting said first liquid medium, bodily fluid and reporter hormone solution with the solid surface supporting the antibody; (c) contacting the solid surface supporting the antibody with an indicating solution; and (d) then making a determination regarding the pregnancy or sex of the animal based on the appearance of either the solid surface supporting the antibody or the indicating solution.
- 20. The method of claim 19 wherein the indicating hormone is selected from the group consisting of progesterone and estrogen or other similar hormones indicative of pregnancy or sex.
- 21. The method of claim 20 wherein in step (a) the indicating hormone reacts with at least some of the antibody on the removable surface.
- 22. The method of claim 21 wherein in step (b) the reporter hormone fills any antibody with which the indicating hormone does not fill.
- 23. The method of claim 19 wherein the reporter hormone is selected from the group consisting of any compound that, when reacted with the indicating hormone, changes color.
- 24. The method of claim 20 wherein on the completion of step (b) the occurrence of reporter hormone on the solid surface will be relatively greater when the occurrence of indicating hormone in the bodily fluid will be relatively greater.
- 25. The method of claim 19 wherein in step (c) the appearance which is related to the amount of the reporter hormone contacted is a color which becomes more intense depending on the amount of reporter hormone which is contacted.
- 26. The method of claim 19 wherein animal is a female mammal in the case of the pregnancy test or is a monomorphic animal in the use of the sex identification test.
- 27. The method of claim 19 wherein the bodily fluid is added to the first liquid medium before the addition of the reporter hormone.
- 28. The method of claim 19 wherein the bodily fluid is added to the first liquid medium after the addition of the reporter hormone.
- 29. A method of testing an animal for pregnancy or identifying the sex of the animal comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a first vessel containing a liquid and having a removable surface wherein said removable surface is at least partially coated with an antibody and then introducing a bodily fluid from the female animal into said first vessel so that said bodily fluid contacts the liquid and then manipulating the first vessel so that the liquid contacts the antibody; (b) providing a second vessel containing a reporter hormone solution and displacing the removable surface from the first vessel to the second vessel and manipulating the second vessel so that the reporter hormone solution contacts the removable surface; (c) providing a third vessel containing an indicating solution which either causes a change of appearance in the removable surface or which undergoes a change of appearance itself related to the amount of reporter hormone on the removable surface and displacing the removable surface from the second vessel to the third vessel and manipulating the third vessel so that the indicating solution contacts the removable surface; and (d) then making a determination regarding the pregnancy of the animal based on the appearance of either the removable surface or the indicating solution.
- 30. The method of claim 29 wherein after step (b) and before step (c) there is performed an additional step (e) of providing a fourth vessel containing a wash solution and displacing the removable surface from the second vessel to the fourth vessel and then manipulating the fourth vessel to contact the removable surface with the wash solution.
- 31. The method of claim 29 wherein in step (d) a visual comparison means is provided for assistance in determining the appearance of the removable surface.
- 32. The method of claim 29 wherein in step (d) a visual comparison means is provided for assistance in determining the appearance of the indicating solution.
- 33. The method of claim 29 wherein in step (a) the liquid in the first vessel is a buffer liquid.
- 34. The method of claim 33 wherein the buffer liquid is selected from the group consisting of any buffer in which the antibody, hormone and solid phase are stable.
- 35. The method of claim 29 wherein the first vessel is a vial.
- 36. The method of claim 35 wherein the vial has a cap having an inner surface and the removable surface is said inner surface on said cap.
- 37. The method of claim 29 wherein the bodily fluid is introduced into the first vessel on a swab.
- 38. The method of claim 29 wherein the bodily fluid is selected from the group consisting of blood, plasma, urine, milk and saliva.
- 39. The method of claim 38 wherein the bodily fluid is saliva.
- 40. The method of claim 29 wherein the first vessel is manipulated by inverting said first vessel.
- 41. The method of claim 29 wherein in step (a) there is an indicating hormone present in the bodily fluid which is related to pregnancy, and the amount of antibody on the removable surface is related to the indicating hormone which would be present at complete gestation.
- 42. The method of claim 41 wherein the indicating hormone is selected from the group consisting of progesterone and estrogen or other hormones indicative of pregnancy or sex.
- 43. The method of claim 42 wherein in step (a) the indicating hormone reacts with at least some of the antibody on the removable surface.
- 44. The method of claim 43 wherein in step (b) the reporter hormone fills any antibody with which the indicating hormone does not fill.
- 45. The method of claim 29 wherein the reporter hormone is selected from the group consisting of any compound that, when reacted with the indicating hormone, changes color.
- 46. The method of claim 29 wherein the second vessel is a vial.
- 47. The method of claim 41 wherein on the completion of step (b) the occurrence of reporter hormone on the removable surface will be relatively greater when the occurrence of indicating hormone in the bodily fluid will be relatively greater.
- 48. The method of claim 29 wherein in step (c) the appearance which is related to the amount of the reporter hormone contacted is a color which becomes more intense depending on the amount of reporter hormone which is contacted.
- 49. The method of claim 30 wherein unwanted materials are contained in the bodily fluid and the reporter solution and the wash solution removes such unwanted materials.
- 50. The method of claim 31 wherein in step (e) the visual comparison mean is a control strip having a color displayed in a plurality of intensities.
- 51. The method of claim 29 wherein the animal is a female mammal in the case of the pregnancy test, or the animal is a sexually monomorphic animal in the case of the sex identification test.
- 52. A method of testing an animal for pregnancy or sex identification comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a first vial containing a buffer liquid and having a removable cap having an inner surface which is at least partially overlaid with a solid phase antibody coating, and then introducing a bodily fluid from the female animal into said first vial so that said bodily fluid contacts said buffer liquid and then manipulating the first vial so that the buffer liquid contacts the solid phase antibody coating on the inner surface of the cap; (b) then providing a second vial containing a reporter hormone, and removing the cap from the first vial to said second vial, and then manipulating the second vial so that the reporter hormone solution contacts the solid phase antibody coating on the inner surface of the cap; and then (c) then providing a third vial which has an indicating solution which has an appearance which is related to the amount of reporter hormone contacted, and removing the cap from the second vial to said third vial, and manipulating the third vial so that the indicating solution contacts the solid phase antibody coating on the inner surface of the cap; and (d) then making a determination regarding the pregnancy or sex of the animal based on the appearance of the indicating solution.
- 53. The method of claim 52 wherein after step (b) and before step (c) there is performed an additional step (e) of providing a fourth vial containing a wash solution and removing the cap from the second vial to the fourth vial and manipulating the fourth vial to contact the solid phase antibody coating on the inner surface of the cap with the wash solution.
- 54. The method of claim 52 wherein in step (d) a visual comparison means is provided for assistance in determining the appearance of the indicating solution.
- 55. A kit for use in testing an animal for pregnancy or sex identification comprising:
a first vessel containing a liquid buffer and having an opening and a removable cap adapted to close said opening, and said cap having an inner surface which is at least partially overlaid with a solid phase antibody coating; a second vessel containing a reporter hormone solution and having an opening which is adapted to being closed by the removable cap; and a third vessel containing an indicating solution and having an opening which is adapted to being closed by the removable cap.
- 56. The kit of claim 55 wherein there is a means for introducing a bodily fluid into the first vessel.
- 57. The kit of claim 56 wherein the means for introducing the bodily fluid into the first vessel is a swab.
- 58. The method of claim 10 wherein the method of testing an animal is a pregnancy test.
- 59. The method of claim 58 wherein the animal is selected from the group consisting of cows and horses.
- 60. The method of claim 59 wherein said antibodies are antibodies against a compound selected from the group consisting of progesterone, estrogen, follicle stimulating hormone, leutinizing hormone, and derivatives and metabolites thereof.
- 61. A method for testing a mammal for pregnancy comprising the steps of:
(a) introducing a saliva sample from a mammal to be tested into a first liquid medium to provide a first liquid mixture; (b) contacting said first liquid mixture with a solid surface, wherein the solid surface has antibodies against at least one pregnancy-indicating hormone attached thereto; (c) contact said solid surface with a reporter hormone solution; (d) contacting said solid surface with an indicator solution; and (e) determining the stage of pregnancy of the mammal based on the appearance of either the solid surface or the indicating solution.
- 62. The method of claim 61 wherein said mammal is a horse.
- 63. The method of claim 62 wherein said antibodies are antibodies against progesterone.
- 64. A method for determining the sex of an animal that is a member of a monomorphic species, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) introducing a saliva sample from an animal to be tested into a first liquid medium to provide a first liquid mixture; (b) contacting said first liquid mixture with a solid surface, wherein the solid surface has antibodies against at least one hormone attached thereto, wherein the hormone is present at different concentrations in male and female individuals of the monomorphic species; (c) contacting said solid surface with a reporter hormone solution; (d) contacting said solid surface with an indicator solution; and (e) determining the sex of the animal based on the appearance of either the solid surface or the indicating solution.
- 65. The method of claim 64 wherein said monomorphic animal is a bird.
- 66. The method of claim 65 wherein said antibodies are antibodies against estrogen.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This patent application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/912,342, filed Jul. 24, 2001, which claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application serial No. 60/220,279, filed Jul. 24, 2000; the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60220279 |
Jul 2000 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09912342 |
Jul 2001 |
US |
Child |
10349715 |
Jan 2003 |
US |