Exploring the potential of paper-based electrokinetic phenomena in PoC biosensing

• Published in: Trends in biotechnology (Regular ed.) 2023-10, Vol.41 (10), p.1299-1313
• Main Authors: Sena-Torralba, Amadeo, Banguera-Ordoñez, Yulieth D., Mira-Pascual, Laia, Maquieira, Ángel, Morais, Sergi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antibodies; Antigens; Biomarkers; biosensing; Biosensors; Cellulose acetate; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Diagnosis; Disease; Electric fields; Electrokinetics; Electrolytes; electrophoresis; Equilibrium; Hemoglobin; Immunoassay; lateral flow assay; Medical research; Nanoparticles; paper-based; point-of-care; Proteins; Signal transduction
• ISSN: 0167-7799; 1879-3096; 1879-3096
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.04.004

As a result of its excellent analytical performance and high economic efficiency, the lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) has proved to be a robust bioanalytical method.To achieve the application of LFIA in health care, several issues still need to be addressed, including a dramatic increase in sensitivity and reliability which is vital to enable early disease diagnosis and to avoid false-negative results.Electrokinetics in paper-based biosensors allows an integrated solution that simultaneously enables separation, preconcentration, and detection of different target analytes.Miniaturized electrokinetic biosensing platforms that incorporate all necessary electronics and use portable batteries for power sources enable their practical use at the point of care (PoC).The potential of electrokinetic phenomena in biosensing is still in its infancy, and there is still work to be done to boost the analytical sensitivity. In order to decentralize health care, the development of point-of-care (PoC) assays has gained significant attention in recent decades. The lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) has emerged as a promising bioanalytical method due to its low cost and single-step detection process. However, its limited sensitivity and inability to detect disease biomarkers at clinically relevant levels have hindered its application for early diagnosis. This review explores the potential of merging different electrokinetic phenomena into paper-based assays to enhance their analytical performance, offering a versatile and affordable approach for PoC testing. The review exposes the challenges faced in integrating electrokinetic phenomena with paper-based biosensing and concludes by discussing the issues that need to be improved to maximize the potential of this technology for early diagnosis.