Progress in the development of paper-based diagnostics for low-resource point-of-care settings. (November 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Byrnes, Samantha; Thiessen, Gregory; Fu, Elain
• Is Part Of: Bioanalysis. Volume 5:Number 22(2013)
• Page Start: 2821
• Page End: 2836
• Publication Date: 2013-11
• Subjects: Drugs -- Analysis -- Periodicals; 615.19005
• DOI: 10.4155/bio.13.243
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1757-6180

Abstract

This Review focuses on recent work in the field of paper microfluidics that specifically addresses the goal of translating the multistep processes that are characteristic of gold-standard laboratory tests to low-resource point-of-care settings. A major challenge is to implement multistep processes with the robust fluid control required to achieve the necessary sensitivity and specificity of a given application in a user-friendly package that minimizes equipment. We review key work in the areas of fluidic controls for automation in paper-based devices, readout methods that minimize dedicated equipment, and power and heating methods that are compatible with low-resource point-of-care settings. We also highlight a focused set of recent applications and discuss future challenges.