With the rapid rise of chlamydial trachomatis infections to an epidemic state of three to ten million cases per year, there is significant need for a rapid detection method that can be inexpensively performed on smears from clinical specimens. Prior to 1983 the diagnosis of this disease was expensive and time consuming since the preferred method was isolation in tissue culture. Two new diagnostic methods, enzymy immunoassay and immunofluorescent assays, are presently commercially available but lack the ability of being performed easily and rapidly since they require highly trained individuals and expensive instrumentation. Photec has developed a novel assay methodology which is rapid, inexpensive and easy to perform. Presently this assay methodology has been applied to a sandwich Apoprotein A-1 test which utilizes a tablet containing a covalently bound capture antibody and a dye labeled antibody. Photec has developed dye polymer labels which can potentially increase the sensitivity of the procedure tested with Apoprotein A-1 to the level needed for chlamydia antigen. The combination of dye polymer labels and a tabletted solid phase support which spontaneously settles in the reaction tube allow the development of inexpensive rapid diagnostic tests which can be read in "tube" photometers
