Paper-based analytical devices for clinical diagnosis: recent advances in the fabrication techniques and sensing mechanisms

ABSTRACT

Introduction: There is a significant interest in developing inexpensive portable biosensing platforms for various applications including disease diagnostics, environmental monitoring, food safety, and water testing at the point-of-care (POC) settings. Current diagnostic assays available in the developed world require sophisticated laboratory infrastructure and expensive reagents. Hence, they are not suitable for resource-constrained settings with limited financial resources, basic health infrastructure, and few trained technicians. Cellulose and flexible transparency paper-based analytical devices have demonstrated enormous potential for developing robust, inexpensive and portable devices for disease diagnostics. These devices offer promising solutions to disease management in resource-constrained settings where the vast majority of the population cannot afford expensive and highly sophisticated treatment options.

Areas covered: In this review, the authors describe currently developed cellulose and flexible transparency paper-based microfluidic devices, device fabrication techniques, and sensing technologies that are integrated with these devices. The authors also discuss the limitations and challenges associated with these devices and their potential in clinical settings.

Expert commentary: In recent years, cellulose and flexible transparency paper-based microfluidic devices have demonstrated the potential to become future healthcare options despite a few limitations such as low sensitivity and reproducibility.

KEYWORDS:

• Point-of-care diagnostics
• cellulose paper-based analytical devices
• flexible transparency paper-based analytical devices
• microfluidics
• biosensors
• device fabrication

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Chad Coarsey and Benjamin Coleman for reviewing the manuscript and providing invaluable comments and suggestions.

Declaration of interest

U. Demirci is a founder of, and has an equity interest in: (i) DxNow Inc., a company that is developing microfluidic and imaging technologies for point-of-care diagnostic solutions, and (ii) Koek Biotech, a company that is developing microfluidic IVF technologies for clinical solutions. U. Demerci’s interests were viewed and managed in accordance with the conflict of interest policies. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Additional information

Funding

This manuscript has been supported by research support from NIH R15AI127214 and a start-up research support from College of Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL. Dr. Demirci would like to acknowledge R01 AI093282, R01 GM108584, R01 DE02497101, R01 AI081534, R21 Al113117, R21 Al110277, U54 EB015408, DOD LC150650 11976867 and Canary Center seed grant. This work was funded in part by an NCI-NIH grant to the Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence for Translational Diagnostics (CCNE-TD) at Stanford University.