Lateral flow (immuno)assays are currently used for qualitative, semiquantitative and to some extent quantitative monitoring in resource-poor or non-laboratory environments. Applications include tests on pathogens, drugs, hormones and metabolites in biomedical, phytosanitary, veterinary, feed/food and environmental settings. We describe principles of current formats, applications, limitations and perspectives for quantitative monitoring. We illustrate the potentials and limitations of analysis with lateral flow (immuno)assays using a literature survey and a SWOT analysis (acronym for “strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats”). Articles referred to in this survey were searched for on MEDLINE, Scopus and in references of reviewed papers. Search terms included “immunochromatography”, “sol particle immunoassay”, “lateral flow immunoassay” and “dipstick assay”.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs00216-008-2287-2.pdf

Lateral flow (immuno)assay: its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A literature survey.

Clinical diagnostics is one of the most promising applications for microfluidic lab-on-a-chip systems, especially in a point-of-care setting. Conventional microfluidic devices are usually based on continuous-flow in microchannels, and offer little flexibility in terms of reconfigurability and scalability. Handling of real physiological samples has also been a major challenge in these devices. We present an alternative paradigm—a fully integrated and reconfigurable droplet-based “digital” microfluidic lab-on-a-chip for clinical diagnostics on human physiological fluids. The microdroplets, which act as solution-phase reaction chambers, are manipulated using the electrowetting effect. Reliable and repeatable high-speed transport of microdroplets of human whole blood, serum, plasma, urine, saliva, sweat and tear, is demonstrated to establish the basic compatibility of these physiological fluids with the electrowetting platform. We further performed a colorimetric enzymatic glucose assay on serum, plasma, urine, and saliva, to show the feasibility of performing bioassays on real samples in our system. The concentrations obtained compare well with those obtained using a reference method, except for urine, where there is a significant difference due to interference by uric acid. A lab-on-a-chip architecture, integrating previously developed digital microfluidic components, is proposed for integrated and automated analysis of multiple analytes on a monolithic device. The lab-on-a-chip integrates sample injection, on-chip reservoirs, droplet formation structures, fluidic pathways, mixing areas and optical detection sites, on the same substrate. The pipelined operation of two glucose assays is shown on a prototype digital microfluidic lab-on-chip, as a proof-of-concept.

An integrated digital microfluidic lab-on-a-chip for clinical diagnostics on human physiological fluids

A rapidly emerging field in lab-on-a-chip (LOC) research is the development of devices to improve the health of people in developing countries. In this review, we identify diseases that are most in need of new health technologies, discuss special design criteria for LOC devices to be deployed in a variety of resource-poor settings, and review past research into LOC devices for global health. We focus mainly on diagnostics, the nearest-term application in this field.

Lab-on-a-chip devices for global health: Past studies and future opportunities

When metal nanoparticles are arranged in an ordered array, they may scatter light to produce diffracted waves. If one of the diffracted waves then propagates in the plane of the array, it may couple the localized plasmon resonances associated with individual nanoparticles together, leading to an exciting phenomenon, the drastic narrowing of plasmon resonances, down to 1–2 nm in spectral width. This presents a dramatic improvement compared to a typical single particle resonance line width of >80 nm. The very high quality factors of these diffractively coupled plasmon resonances, often referred to as plasmonic surface lattice resonances, and related effects have made this topic a very active and exciting field for fundamental research, and increasingly, these resonances have been investigated for their potential in the development of practical devices for communications, optoelectronics, photovoltaics, data storage, biosensing, and other applications. In the present review article, we describe the basic phy...

Plasmonic Surface Lattice Resonances: A Review of Properties and Applications

In recent years, tools for the development of new drugs have been dramatically improved. These include genomic and proteomic research, numerous biophysical methods, combinatorial chemistry and screening technologies. In addition, early ADMET studies are employed in order to significantly reduce the failure rate in the development of drug candidates. As a consequence, the lead finding, lead optimization and development process has gained marked enhancement in speed and efficiency. In parallel to this development, major pharma companies are increasingly outsourcing many components of drug discovery research to biotech companies. All these measures are designed to address the need for a faster time to market. New screening methodologies have contributed significantly to the efficiency of the drug discovery process. The conventional screening of single compounds or compound libraries has been dramatically accelerated by high throughput screening methods. In addition, in silico screening methods allow the evaluation of virtual compounds. A wide range of new lead finding and lead optimization opportunities result from novel screening methods by NMR, which are the topic of this review article.

Drug Discovery Today

Chapter 1: Introduction to Surface Plasmon Resonance Chapter 2: Physics of Surface Plasmon Resonance Chapter 3: SPR Instrumentation Chapter 4: Kinetic Models Describing Biomolecular Interactions at Surfaces Chapter 5: Kinetic and Thermodynamic Analysis of Ligand-Receptor Interactions: SPR Applications in Drug Development Chapter 6: Surface Chemistry in SPR Technology Chapter 7: Measurement of the Analysis Cycle: Scanning SPR Microarray Imaging of Autoimmune Diseases Chapter 8: Advanced Methods for SPR Imaging Biosensing Chapter 9: Surface Plasmon Fluorescence Techniques for Bioaffinity Studies Chapter 10: SPR Imaging for Clinical Diagnostics Chapter 11: The Benefits and Scope of Surface Plasmon Resonance-based Biosensors in Food Analysis Chapter 12: Future Trends in SPR Technology

/pdf/handbook-of-surface-plasmon-resonance-35uv5m5dr9.pdf

Handbook of surface plasmon resonance

A currently emerging approach enables more widespread monitoring of health parameters in disease prevention and biomarker monitoring. Miniaturisation provides the means for the production of small, fast and easy-to-operate devices for reduced-cost healthcare testing at the point-of-care (POC) or even for household use. A critical overview is given on the present state and requirements of POC testing, on µTAS elements suited for implementation in future µTAS devices for POC testing and µTAS systems for the determination of clinical parameters.

Trends in miniaturized total analysis systems for point-of-care testing in clinical chemistry

Since its first observation by Wood in 1902 [1,2], the physical phenomenon of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) has found its way into practical applications in sensitive detectors, capable of detecting sub-monomolecular coverage. What is surface plasmon resonance? Wood observed a pattern of “anomalou...

Chapter 1:Introduction to Surface Plasmon Resonance

Are you looking for an alternative to conferences with masses of people, long queues at the registration desk and crowded halls where you can hardly get to see the posters? BioArrays Europe 2005 of...

Anna J. Tudos

Papers

Handbook of surface plasmon resonance

Trends in miniaturized total analysis systems for point-of-care testing in clinical chemistry

Chapter 1:Introduction to Surface Plasmon Resonance

BioArrays Europe 2005: September 27–30, 2005, London, UK