Abstract: The invention relates to a device for determining the concentration of a substance present in a solution, using ellipsometry. Said device is used for determining the rate of precipitation, which is a measure of the concentration of the substance to be determined The object of the invention is to provide an improved measuring technique based on optical ellipsometry or another technique for measuring the mass bonded to a solid surface (substrate), such as “surface plasmon resonance” (SPR), “quartz crystal microbalance” (QCM) etc, by means of which the concentration of a substance present in a liquid, which liquid is in contact with the substrate, can be measured with a higher degree of accuracy.

Abstract: A process for determining binding parameters, including dissociation constants and sorption rate constants, of the binding between a biomolecule and a binding partner thereof, both being present in a liquid phase, and comprising a marker-free binding step, characterized by the following steps: (a) attaching either (a1) the binding partner, or (a2) the biomolecule, to a solid surface (b) allowing binding between the binding partner and the biomolecule, both in the liquid phase and on the solid surface (c) attaching a marker to: (c1) the biomolecule, if said binding partner was attached to the solid surface according to step (a1), or to (c2) the binding partner, if said biomolecule was attached to the solid surface according to step (a2) (d) allowing the marker to produce a precipitate; and (e) detecting said precipitate as it is formed on said solid surface by determining a change of surface mass on the solid surface due to the formation of said precipitate.

Abstract: An immunoassay, e.g. ELISA, method and kit for determining (preferably quantitatively) an analyte adsorbed at a surface or present in a liquid sample, comprising binding the analyte to a solid phase, attaching a marker to the analyte, and detecting marker attached to the solid-phase. The invention proposes to use a combination of marker and detection (e.g. an enzyme-substrate combination) which is capable of producing a precipitate on a solid phase which carries the marker and to detect the binding of analyte to the solid phase by in-situ determining the change in surface mass of the solid phase due to the formation of the precipitate. Ellipsometry is an example of a technique suitable for determining the change of surface mass of the solid phase, which could be made of a silicon- or chromium-sputtered glass slide The invention shortens the assay time and/or improves the assay sensitivity, and allows to measure extremely low surface concentrations of analytes of interest.

Abstract: A therapeutic or prophylactic treatment method of acute myocardial infarction, comprising administering exogenous C1-esterase inhibitor, alone or in combination with other drugs, to a patient with acute myocardial infarction or to a patient at risk for acute myocardial infarction. The treatment inhibits the inflammatory reaction, more specifically the activation of the complement system, which occurs in the course of acute myocardial infarction. The C1-esterase inhibitor may include C1-esterase inhibitor purified from plasma or other biological materials, or recombinant C1-esterase inhibitor, or recombinant variants derived therefrom, or recombinant constructs of other inhibitors having a specificity similar to C1-esterase inhibitor.