George Argyrou

How do Pregnancy Tests Work?

Potentially pregnant woman have been using pregnancy tests for
centuries. The earliest recorded pregnancy tests were in Ancient
Egypt, dating back to 1350 BC. Egyptian women used to gather
barley and wheat seeds and urinate on them. If the seed started to
sprout then the woman was pregnant. The tests were recreated in
1963 and were found to be 70% accurate, with the seeds growing
due to the increased level of Oestrogen in the urine.
Currently, most women use over the counter pregnancy tests due to
their highly accurate and quick responses to pregnancy. Pregnancy
tests vary from one another but the most common ones work by
detecting a hormone known as HCG-Human Chorionic Gonadotropin.
The placenta secretes this hormone shortly after fertilisation. HCG
promotes the maintenance if the Corpus Luteum, which in turn
secretes progesterone, which maintains the Uterus lining. The levels
of HCG double about every two days, making this test quite reliable
a few weeks after fertilisation.
The pregnancy test first starts when a sample of urine is added to
the fibrous strip of the strip-the part that is exposed. The fluid then
travels up the strip crossing three main zones/lines. The first line is
known as the reaction zone, and any HCG that passes through is
binded with Y-shaped antibodies. These antibodies also contain an
enzyme, which reacts with other molecules later on, creating a
visible line to signify whether a test is positive or negative. The
urine then passes further down the strip to the test zone-the second
line-where the test shows up. Here there are more Y-shaped
antibodies which sandwich the HCG between another antibody. The
enzyme previously attached to the antibodies can now bind to dye
molecules creating a visible result if the test is positive. However if
there were no HCG, the urine would just pass through the test zone,
with no reactions occurring. Finally the urine passes through the last
zone, known as the Control Zone. Here the pregnancy test proves
that it is working and not faulty. If there is no HCG present at all, this
line should still appear. If it does not appear, then the pregnancy
test was damaged and did not provide an answer.
These pregnancy tests are not fool proof however, as they can give
positive results, even when a woman is not pregnant. For example,
some cancers including uteran and testicular can produce HCG
meaning that a test could say a man was pregnant! The most
reliable way to check if you are pregnant is to have a doctor take a
blood sample. They can give a qualitative response and determine
the exact value of HCG and even when fertilisation occurred.

Reaction Zone
Control Zone
Test Zone