Flow analysis systems have been gaining an increased importance
inwet analytical chemistry. This fact can be mainly explained
by the possibility of automating analytical chemical procedures
with a simultaneous dramatic decrease in reagents consumption.
The trend for automation and miniaturization is particularly important
for biochemical methods of analysis, due to the elevated costs
of the reagents involved in enzymatic and immuno-assays, as well
as by the often-limited amount of the samples available. Therefore,
the possibility to perform the biochemical assays within smallintegrated
manifolds through flow-based automation of sample
and reagent handling has received increased attention.
In this scenario, flow methods became widely popular among
the scientific community, due to the possibility of automatic sample
handing resorting to mostly simple and low cost apparatus.
These approaches consist in the injection of a well-defined volume
of sample solution into a carrier stream in a reproducible way [1];
one or more reagents can be added downstream and the product is
measured in a suitable flow through detector.