Homogeneous process for the detection and/or determination by luminescence of an analyte in a medium in which it may be present

Claim 1

A homogeneous process for the detection or determination of an analyte in a medium in which it may be present by disclosing the reaction product of the analyte and a corresponding receptor comprising the steps of a) adding to said medium a first reagent consisting of a receptor for said analyte; b) optionally incubating said medium after addition of said first reagent; c) adding to said medium a second reagent consisting of at least one of said analyte and said receptor for analyte, one of said first and second reagents being coupled with a luminescent compound and the other of said first and second reagents possessing a heavy atom or units containing a heavy atom; d) incubating said medium after addition of said second reagent to produce a resulting medium; e) exciting said resulting medium to produce luminescence; f) measuring said luminescence at equilibrium or under kinetic conditions, wherein said heavy atom is capable of modulating said luminescence in a medium in which analyte is present, wherein said modulation is by inter-system transition within said luminescent compound and wherein there is substantially no overlap between an absorption spectrum of said heavy atom and an emission spectrum of said luminescent compound, and g) comparing said luminescence to a standard in order to determine the presence or concentration of analyte in said medium.