Use of the Taguchi Method to Optimize an Immunodetection System for Quantitative Analysis of a Rapid Test

Abstract

In this research, the Taguchi method was used to optimize the detection accuracy and reproducibility of an immunodetection system used for a quantitative analysis of a rapid test. Furthermore, the standard deviation (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV) between the theoretical value and the measured value of the self-made simulated rapid test became smaller, and the linearity became higher. The results thus indicated that the immunodetection system became more reliable. In the present research, a camera was used to capture an image containing the control line (C line) and the test line (T line) in the self-made simulated rapid test. The captured image was then analyzed, and the grayscales of the C line and T line were calculated. The Taguchi method was used to adjust the light intensity of the light-emitting diode (LED) and the camera parameters in the immunodetection system to determine the optimal parameters by which to optimize the performance of the immunodetection system. The goal of the present research was to obtain a measurement with a minimum SD and CV between the detected grayscales and the grayscales of the self-made simulated rapid test, thus indicating successful development of a practical, stable, and accurate immunodetection system. To mimic the color expression in an actual rapid test, the ratio of the red, green, blue (RGB) components of the self-made simulated rapid test had to be adjusted to closely fit the color expression of the actual rapid test. After the RGB ratio was set, the Taguchi method was used to optimize the parameters for the purpose of detection. When the optimal parameters were found, the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N ratio) had been increased from −12.89 dB to −10.91 dB, which means the accuracy of the color detection had been improved. Compared to the original detection system, the quality loss had been reduced to 33.1%.