Paper-based device developed for rapid diagnosis of lung diseases

CSIC researchers have coordinated the design of an instrument that combines paper microfluidics and electrochemical transduction.

03-Aug-2023 - Spain

Paper component incorporated in a methacrylate cartridge.

Dani Ortega (IMB)

A device that combines microfluidics on paper, electrochemical transduction and immunoassays on magnetic nanoparticles is capable of detecting biomarkers of inflammation in sputum samples, useful for the easy and rapid diagnosis of lung diseases. The research is coordinated by the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona of the CSIC (IMB-CNM-CSIC) and the results are published in ACS Sensors.

The development is the result of collaboration between the IMB-CNM-CSIC, the Institute of Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), the Balearic Islands Health Research Institute (IdISBa), the Department of Chemical Engineering of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, the Center for Biomedical Research Network (CIBER-BBN), the Physics Center - University of Minho - University of Porto (CF-UM-UP) of Portugal and the company Cellvax, SAS of France.

"It is a compact, inexpensive and easy-to-use device that simultaneously measures three biomarkers in sputum, whose levels are altered in patients suffering from more severe episodes of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)," says César Fernández-Sánchez, coordinator of the work and researcher at the IMB-CNM.

The device consists of a matrix of electrochemical cells integrated into a chip and a paper component incorporated into a methacrylate cartridge, and allows simultaneous determination of three biomarkers of inflammation, interleukin-8 (IL-8), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and the enzyme myeloperoxidase (MPO). The concentration of these markers in sputum would help in the early detection of different stages of COPD.

Currently, COPD is the third leading cause of mortality worldwide and is detected by spirometry respiratory function testing. In middle- and low-income countries, it is not usually available, causing the mortality rate for this disease to be high, with 90% of deaths occurring in patients under 70 years of age, according to data from the World Health Organization.

"The versatility of the diagnostic technology presented can be easily adapted to the detection of other target biomarkers, such as specific RNA sequences of the SARS-CoV-2 virus", as Manuel Gutiérrez-Capitán, IMB-CNM researcher, points out.

The work began within the framework of the LungCheck project (ERANET-EuroNanoMed II) and continued within the CSIC Global Health Interdisciplinary Thematic Platform.

Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in Spanish can be found here.

Original publication

Manuel Gutiérrez-Capitán, Ana Sanchis, Estela O. Carvalho, Antonio Baldi, Lluïsa Vilaplana, Vanessa F. Cardoso, Álvaro Calleja, Mingxing Wei, Roberto de la Rica, Javier Hoyo, Arnau Bassegoda, Tzanko Tzanov, et al.; "Engineering a Point-of-Care Paper-Microfluidic Electrochemical Device Applied to the Multiplexed Quantitative Detection of Biomarkers in Sputum."; ACS Sensors.

https://www.analytica-world.com/en/news/1181233/paper-based-device-developed-for-rapid-diagnosis-of-lung-diseases.html