Paper Diagnostic for Instantaneous Blood Typing

Abstract

Agglutinated blood transports differently onto paper than stable blood with well dispersed red cells. This difference was investigated to develop instantaneous blood typing tests using specific antibody-antigen interactions to trigger blood agglutination. Two series of experiments were performed. The first related the level of agglutination and the fluidic properties of blood on its transport in paper. Blood samples were mixed at different ratios with specific and nonspecific antibodies; a droplet of each mixture was deposited onto a filter paper strip, and the kinetics of wicking and red cell separation were measured. Agglutinated blood phase separated, with the red blood cells (RBC) forming a distinct spot upon contact with paper while the plasma wicked; in contrast, stable blood suspensions wicked uniformly. The second study analyzed the wicking and the chromatographic separation of droplets of blood deposited onto paper strips pretreated with specific and nonspecific antibodies. Drastic differences in transport occurred. Blood agglutinated by interaction with one of its specific antibodies phase separated, causing a chromatographic separation. The red cells wicked very little while the plasma wicked at a faster rate than the original blood sample. Blood agglutination and wicking in paper followed the concepts of colloids chemistry. The immunoglobin M antibodies agglutinated the red blood cells by polymer bridging, upon selective adsorption on the specific antigen at their surface. The transport kinetics was viscosity controlled, with the viscosity of red cells drastically increasing upon blood agglutination. Three arm prototypes were investigated for single-step blood typing.

Quantitative blood group typing using surface plasmon resonance

“…SPR biodiagnostics are also reliant on expensive equipment and consumables, such as the sensor chip, and are confined to a laboratory environment. Emerging technologies, such as the paper diagnostics for blood typing, are less reliant on equipment and trained personnel (Khan et al, 2010;Li et al, 2012;Then et al, 2015). The one key advantage of SPR analysis is the ability to quantitatively detect blood groups, which could be especially useful when detecting weaker variants.…”

Qualitative and quantitative detection of T7 bacteriophages using paper based sandwich ELISA

“…In the detection of health conditions through pathological diagnosis, the outsourcing of blood, urine and other biofluid samples to an analytical laboratory is a standard practice. Reliable instantaneous diagnoses without recourse to sophisticated laboratory and analytical instrumentation would be a significant innovation that promises to improve health outcomes in underprivileged and remote areas [1][2][3][4]. In addition, access to simple, dependable and low cost water and air filters that are able to capture and deactivate waterborne and airborne pathogens would be equally invaluable for preventing epidemic health threats through provision of safe water and air [4][5][6].…”

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“…This proof-of-concept demonstration promises useful future applications of cellophane in ECL diagnostic applications. 45,49,50 …”