System and method for biochemical assay

[0026]Systems and methods of the present invention accomplish a biochemical assay of a fluid specimen. A biochemical assay includes any examination of a specimen for the determination of a characteristic of a biochemical substance. For instance, such an assay may be used to determine the concentration of a substance in the specimen or a property of a substance. Such a substance may be a protein, an enzyme, a portion of a DNA molecule, a carbohydrate molecule, a drug (medicinal or harmful), a hormone, a marker (e.g., cancer marker, cardiac marker, a pathogenic disease marker, etc.), a blood cell, a bacterial cell, a fungal cell, a virus, or a parasite, to name a few representative examples. Properties of substances which may be determined by a biochemical assay may describe cell adhesion binding, ligand-receptor binding, antibody-antigen binding, binding affinity or unbinding force (e.g., molecular or intercellular), hybridization events, or the composition of a molecule (e.g., DNA or p