Issue 18, 2023

Generating signals at converging liquid fronts to create line-format readouts of soluble assay products in three-dimensional paper-based devices

Abstract

The correct interpretation of the result from a point-of-care device is crucial for an accurate and rapid diagnosis to guide subsequent treatment. Lateral flow tests (LFTs) use a well-established format that was designed to simplify the user experience. However, the LFT device architecture is inherently limited to detecting analytes that can be captured by molecular recognition. Microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs), like LFTs, have the potential to be used in diagnostic applications at the point of care. However, μPADs have not gained significant traction outside of academic laboratories, in part, because they have often demonstrated a lack of homogeneous shape or color in signal outputs, which consequently can lead to inaccurate interpretation of results by users. Here, we demonstrate a new class of μPADs that form colorimetric signals at the interfaces of converging liquid fronts (i.e., lines) to control where colorimetric signals are formed without relying on capture techniques. We demonstrate our approach by developing assays for three classes of analytes—an ion, an enzyme, and a small molecule—to measure using iron(III), acetylcholinesterase, and lactate, respectively. Additionally, we show these devices have the potential to support multiplexed assays by generating multiple lines in a common readout zone. These results highlight the ability of this new paper-based device architecture to aid the interpretation of assays that create soluble products by using flow to constrain those colorimetric products in a familiar, line-format output.

Graphical abstract: Generating signals at converging liquid fronts to create line-format readouts of soluble assay products in three-dimensional paper-based devices

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 Jun 2023
Accepted
08 Aug 2023
First published
09 Aug 2023

Lab Chip, 2023,23, 4010-4018

Author version available

Generating signals at converging liquid fronts to create line-format readouts of soluble assay products in three-dimensional paper-based devices

I. H. Abdullah, D. J. Wilson, A. C. Mora, R. W. Parker and C. R. Mace, Lab Chip, 2023, 23, 4010 DOI: 10.1039/D3LC00511A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements