Abstract: Methods for assessing the ovarian reserve of a female subject may include (a) testing the concentration of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) in urine samples obtained from the subject, the samples being obtained on at least two different days during a first menstrual cycle in the subject; (b) testing the concentration of FSH in further urine samples, the further samples being obtained on at least two different days during one or more subsequent menstrual cycles in the subject, which days may be the same as, or different from, the days on which samples are obtained in step (a); (c) comparing the FSH test results obtained from the subject with a reference value calculated from a menopausal or non-menopausal control population; and, (d) based at least partly on the comparison, making an assessment of the subject's ovarian reserve

Abstract: A method of “reading” the result of an assay effected by concentrating a detectable material in a comparatively small zone of a carrier in the form of a strip, sheet or layer through the thickness of which electromagnetic radiation such as visible light is transmissible, wherein at least a portion of one face or the carrier is exposed to incident electromagnetic radiation which is substantially uniform across the entire portion, the portion including the small zone, and electromagnetic radiation emerging from the opposite face of the carrier is measured to determine the assay result. Preferably the radiation is diffuse light.

Abstract: An assay result reader, for use in conjunction with an assay device comprising a porous liquid-permeable carrier in the form of a strip or sheet through the thickness of which electromagnetic radiation is transmissible, the carrier including a detection zone in which an assay result is revealed by specific binding of a detectable material directly or indirectly to a binding agent immobilized in the detection zone, detection of the detectable material being effected by determining the extent to which electromagnetic radiation transmitted through the thickness of said carrier is attenuated by the presence of the detectable material bound in the detection zone.