Fiber composite slices for multiplexed immunoassays

Abstract

Fabrication methods for the development of multiplexed immunoassay platforms primarily depend on the individual functionalization of reaction chambers to achieve a heterogeneous reacting substrate composition, which increases the overall manufacturing time and cost. Here, we describe a new type of low-cost fabrication method for a scalable immunoassay platform based on cotton threads. The manufacturing process involves the fabrication of functionalized fibers and the arrangement of these fibers into a bundle; this bundle is then sectioned to make microarray-like particles with a predefined surface architecture. With these sections, composed of heterogeneous thread fragments with different types of antibodies, we demonstrated quantitative and 7-plex immunoassays. We expect that this methodology will prove to be a versatile, low-cost, and highly scalable method for the fabrication of multiplexed bioassay platforms. V C 2015 AIP Publishing LLC. [http://dx

Diagnostic Devices with Microfluidics

“…The rapid growth of paper-based microfluidics has also inspired and echoed with the utilization of many other well-controlled and low-cost substrate materials, including eletrospun nanofibrous membrane (Yang et al 2008), thread (Zhou et al 2012, Nilghaz et al 2014, Kim et al 2015a, cotton (Lin et al 2014), cloth (Liu et al 2015a, Wu and, and lignocellulose (from bamboo) (Kuan et al 2015). We believe that the combination of these varieties of materials with paper will likely further enhance the functions of paper-based microfluidics and its applications in medicine.…”

Life-Saving Threads: Advances in Textile-Based Analytical Devices

“…X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) shows an increase in the surface concentration of oxygen, due to the generation of O−C−O, CO, O−CO, and C−O on cotton, increasing the surface polarity, which then leads to an improvement of wicking properties in cotton fibers. 13,31,36,37 Jeon et al 38 have also used plasma surface treatment to increase the wettability of wool fibers by degumming fatty acids on its surface where they observed that wool had different flow rates when treated with different plasma gases (O 2 , N 2 , and Ar), providing a degree of tunability that enabled flow control in micromixing devices. Alternatively, the wettability of natural fibers can be improved by boiling them 14 or scouring them in NaOH or Na 2 CO 3 .…”

“…Plasma treatment and scouring in NaOH or Na 2 CO 3 are common methods that have been used to remove waxes and improve wicking properties of natural fibers. Plasma treatment has also been widely used to enhance wicking properties of cotton fibers, ,,− where the plasma treatment oxidizes the cotton surface and removes the wax; however, the plasma treatment process itself is typically nonpermanent, and studies to improve its durability have not been extensively explored. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) shows an increase in the surface concentration of oxygen, due to the generation of O–C–O, CO, O–CO, and C–O on cotton, increasing the surface polarity, which then leads to an improvement of wicking properties in cotton fibers. ,,, Jeon et al have also used plasma surface treatment to increase the wettability of wool fibers by degumming fatty acids on its surface where they observed that wool had different flow rates when treated with different plasma gases (O 2 , N 2 , and Ar), providing a degree of tunability that enabled flow control in micromixing devices.…”

“…Plasma treatment has also been widely used to enhance wicking properties of cotton fibers, ,,− where the plasma treatment oxidizes the cotton surface and removes the wax; however, the plasma treatment process itself is typically nonpermanent, and studies to improve its durability have not been extensively explored. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) shows an increase in the surface concentration of oxygen, due to the generation of O–C–O, CO, O–CO, and C–O on cotton, increasing the surface polarity, which then leads to an improvement of wicking properties in cotton fibers. ,,, Jeon et al have also used plasma surface treatment to increase the wettability of wool fibers by degumming fatty acids on its surface where they observed that wool had different flow rates when treated with different plasma gases (O 2 , N 2 , and Ar), providing a degree of tunability that enabled flow control in micromixing devices. Alternatively, the wettability of natural fibers can be improved by boiling them or scouring them in NaOH or Na 2 CO 3 . ,− NaOH and Na 2 CO 3 are reported to attack aliphatic chains of the wax on the surface of cotton fibers, removing the wax and exposing the underlying cellulose structure which has a negative charge and abundant hydroxyl (−OH) group functionality.…”

“…A range of applications have been reported utilizing simple fluid wicking through to more complicated microfluidic textile-based separation platforms. Both threads and fabrics have been applied to areas such as bacteria isolation and quantification; chemotaxis studies for cell culture systems; immunoassay; blood typing; chemical synthesis; bioanalysis; and the determination of nucleic acids, protein, glucose, drugs, small ions, and metals . These applications are also subsequently dependent upon the ability to interrogate and detect the solute of interest at the surface of the fiber, yarn, or textile structure.…”