Abstract: A substance determining apparatus determines a substance within a fluid where particles, which have attached the substance, are bound to a binding surface. A sensing unit is configured to generate a sensing signal being indicative of at least one of i) a distance between the particles bound on the binding surface and the binding surface, and ii) an in-plane position of the particles bound on the binding surface. A binding discrimination unit is configured to discriminate between different kinds of binding of the particles bound on the binding surface depending on the generated sensing signal. The binding discrimination unit may be a unit for determining the part of the sensing signal being caused by specifically bound particles and for determining the substance based on this determined part of the sensing signal.

Abstract: A sensor device for sensing particles of a sample, the sensor device including a sensing unit adapted for sensing a detection signal indicative of the presence of the particles, a viscosity measurement unit adapted for measuring the viscosity of the sample, and a correction unit adapted for correcting the detection signal based on the measured viscosity.

Abstract: The invention relates to a substance determining apparatus for determining a substance within a fluid. Particles, which have attached the substance, are bound to a binding surface (30). A sensing unit (33) is adapted to generate a sensing signal being indicative of at least one of i) a distance between the particles bound on the binding surface (30) and the binding surface (30) and ii) an in-plane position of the particles bound on the binding surface. A binding discrimination unit (34) is adapted to discriminate between different kinds of binding of the particles bound on the binding surface (30) depending on the generated sensing signal. The binding discrimination unit (34) is preferentially a unit for determining the part of the sensing signal being caused by specifically bound particles and to determine the substance based on this determined part of the sensing signal.

Abstract: The invention relates to the field of intensity measurements of a light scattering label bound to a surface of a support using an optical evanescent field. According to the invention, the method comprises the steps: a) Providing an assay comprising at least one light scattering label bound to a surface of a support by at least one bond; b) Measuring the fluctuations in the intensity of scattered light of the label in an optical evanescent field over time while the label is bound to the surface. The method according to the invention allows to identify different bonds and/or to distinguish between different bonds.

Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus (300) and a method for the separation of magnetic particles (1, 2) according to their properties, particularly their magnetic susceptibility. The apparatus comprises a magnetic field generator (320) with which magnetic actuation forces (Fm) can be exerted on the magnetic particles (1, 2) that affect a prevailing movement of the particles (1, 2), said movement being caused by non-magnetic influences, e.g. thermal energy or viscous drag (Fh). The magnetic field generator may for example comprise: (i) a wire (321) that crosses the flow of a sample fluid with varying inclination (?); (ii) wires that generate a local minimum of a magnetic potential from which different particles escape by Brownian motion with different rates; or (iii) pairs of particle-attracting wires for which the attraction of one wire is temporarily interrupted to allow the fastest magnetic particles to escape.

Abstract: A sensor device (50) for sensing particles (15) of a sample, the sensor device (50) comprising a sensing unit (11, 20) adapted for sensing a detection signal indicative of the presence of the particles (15), a viscosity measurement unit (11, 17, 20) adapted for measuring the viscosity of the sample, and a correction unit (20, 30) adapted for correcting the detection signal based on the measured viscosity.