Radioimmunoassay Data Handling

Methods are presented for fitting functions to radioimmunoassay and other competitive binding assay calibration data. For the case of a univalent hormone in equilibrium with a protein carrying one type of binding site, the theoretic function is fitted to the data using the method of least squares. Two methods are provided in this case. One method requires a computer search to locate the unknown parameters. A second approximate method, as easy to use as a conventional least-squares fit of a straight line, provides explicit solutions for the parameters. These methods have been found to work well with a number of commercially available radioimmunoassays. All of the methods presented are usable on a programmable desk-top computing calculator.