Adaptation and evaluation of enzyme immunoassay for theophylline to a centrifugal analyzer

The primary purpose of this research was to develop, evaluate, and apply a method for routine analysis of theophylline. The manual EMIT procedure for serum theophylline has been adapted to the Rotochem II centrifugal analyzer. A multi method comparison was performed using this developed method, a W spectrophotometric method and a manual EMIT method.;In developing this procedure the following assay parameters were studied: (1) sample volume; (2) reagent preparation; (3) initial and final reaction times; and (4) reagent addition technique. This approach for the determination of theophylline offers numerous advantages over previous methods in terms of sensitivity, specificity, speed, availability, sample size, and economic feasibility. A comparison study indicated an excellent correlation between the developed method and a manual EMIT method and a satisfactory correlation with a manual UV spectrophotometric method. Utilizing the micro volume capacity of the Rotochem II and modifying the preparation of the reagents have allowed a four-fold savings in cost-per-test and a ten-fold reduction in sample volume as compared to the manufacturer's manual procedure.