Advances in paper-based point-of-care diagnostics

Biosens Bioelectron. 2014 Apr 15:54:585-97. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2013.10.075. Epub 2013 Nov 19.

Authors

Jie Hu¹, ShuQi Wang², Lin Wang¹, Fei Li³, Belinda Pingguan-Murphy⁴, Tian Jian Lu⁵, Feng Xu⁶

Affiliations

¹ The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P.R. China; Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center (BEBC), Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P.R. China.
² Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston 02139, MA, USA.
³ Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center (BEBC), Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P.R. China; Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P.R. China.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia.
⁵ Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center (BEBC), Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P.R. China. Electronic address: tjlu@mail.xjtu.edu.cn.
⁶ The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P.R. China; Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center (BEBC), Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P.R. China. Electronic address: fengxu@mail.xjtu.edu.cn.

PMID: 24333570
DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2013.10.075

Abstract

Advanced diagnostic technologies, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), have been widely used in well-equipped laboratories. However, they are not affordable or accessible in resource-limited settings due to the lack of basic infrastructure and/or trained operators. Paper-based diagnostic technologies are affordable, user-friendly, rapid, robust, and scalable for manufacturing, thus holding great potential to deliver point-of-care (POC) diagnostics to resource-limited settings. In this review, we present the working principles and reaction mechanism of paper-based diagnostics, including dipstick assays, lateral flow assays (LFAs), and microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs), as well as the selection of substrates and fabrication methods. Further, we report the advances in improving detection sensitivity, quantification readout, procedure simplification and multi-functionalization of paper-based diagnostics, and discuss the disadvantages of paper-based diagnostics. We envision that miniaturized and integrated paper-based diagnostic devices with the sample-in-answer-out capability will meet the diverse requirements for diagnosis and treatment monitoring at the POC.

Keywords: Microfluidics; Paper-based diagnostics; Point-of-care (POC).

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Biosensing Techniques / instrumentation*
Biosensing Techniques / methods
Equipment Design
Humans
Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / instrumentation*
Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / methods
Paper*
Point-of-Care Systems*