The “ECL” Technology

Immunochemistry testing has evolved significantly over the past 30 years. 

The basic radio immunochemistry or RIA provided high specificity and
good sensitivity, but with multiple drawbacks including manual
pipetting, radioactive waste handling, long incubation periods and short
reagent shelf lives.

To overcome several of these drawbacks, EIA or enzyme immunoassays

were developed.  EIA eliminated the need for radioactive disposal, increased
shelf life and automated many of the manual steps.  However, sensitivity,
reagent stability and incubation times were still not optimal.

Chemiluminescence or the use of chemical reactions to produce light further

promised to enhance immunochemistry performance by improving dynamic
ranges and low end sensitivity.  However, these promises have not been
fully realized, and the incubation times in many instances still remain
relatively long in order to obtain good sensitivity or broad measuring
ranges.

Unique electrochemiluninescence (ECL) detection technology, provides

high quality patient results, rapid turnaround times and the
convenience of easy-to-use reagents.

Electrochemiluminescence or ECL utilizes a combination of electrical

activation and chemical reactions to produce light.  The ECL technology
combined with the Elecsys Immunochemistry Systems provide stable,
liquid, ready-to-use reagents, short assay incubation times, and the highest

sensitivities and measuring
ECL Te chnology ranges available today. 

Reaction Phase - Measuring Cell

Photon
Photon The Gold Standard
Ru2+ “ECL” technology
excited e-
state TPA
H+
Ru2+ Ru3 TPA
base state +
TPA+

e- e-
+ Platinum Electrode +
Magnet
Through a combination of ECL’s inherent sensitivity and innovative assay
design, Elecsys systems deliver a level of performance and simplicity never
before possible in immunoassays.  Just as important, the versatility of
Elecsys technology allows the lab to address diverse testing requirements
with one easy-to-use methodology.

The electrochemiluminescence reaction begins with the basic antigen-

antibody reaction. The solid phase of the ECL reaction is a paramagnetic
microparticle. The antibody or antigen is attached to the microparticle
through the use of a streptavidin-biotin bond.  The tag or label utilized in the
ECL reaction is Ruthenium, a very stable rare earth element.

The microparticles are drawn into the measuring cell where the
microparticles with their bound immune complexes are uniformly deposited
on the electrode.  Unbound components are washed away.

Two electrically active substances, the ruthenium label and tripropylamine 

(TPA), are involved in the reactions leading to the emission of light.
Through a series of oxidation and reduction reactions, the ruthenium label is
elevated to an excited state. The label spontaneously decays with the
emission of a photon that is measured by the system.
ECL Te chnology 
The elegance and beauty
of this electrically
stimulated chemical Reaction Phase - Measuring Cell
PPP
PPPPhoton
Photon
reaction is that it occurs
again and again producing
multiple photons of light
per ruthenium molecule.  Ru2+ TPA
base state
In contrast,
chemiluminescence
produces only one photon + Platinum Electrode
Magnet
+

of light per
enzyme/substrate reaction.
A significant advantage of having an electrically stimulated chemical
reaction is that it can be very tightly controlled. 

In chemiluminescence, photon emission occurs as soon as the enzyme and

substrate come into contact with one another contributing to background
noise. Background noise is almost non-existent in the ECL reaction
because photon emission does not occur until the electricity is initiated. 
Lack of background noise allows the differentiation between zero and a
measurable amount of analyte in a specimen, thus further enhancing low end
sensitivity.

The advantages of electrical activation of the chemiluminescent reaction

include:

•  Elimination of enzyme reagent components results in liquid, stable

reagents and contributes to calibration stability ( on-board stability is
8 weeks).   
• Decreased dependence on reagent kinetics results in a more tightly
controlled reaction and more precise results.

Electro-chemiluminescence truly takes immunoassay testing into the next

generation of performance by providing a combination of low end
sensitivity, broad measuring range and fast turnaround time.  Many
immunoassay systems today provide one or two of these benefits in
combination, but the Elecsys systems are the only ones able to maintain this
high level of performance across the entire range of available assays.