Paper-based electrochemical cyto-device for sensitive detection of cancer cells and in situ anticancer drug screening

Rapid and Sensitive Detection of Cancer Cells Based on the Photothermal Effect of Graphene Functionalized Magnetic Microbeads

A strategy based on an immune-graphene oxide (GO)-magnetic microbead complex for the sensitive, rapid, portable, and low-cost detection of cancer cells was developed. The high-efficiency cell capture and high sensitive thermal contrast detection could be simultaneously achieved using magnetic microbeads and the photothermal effect of GOs. The temperature variation caused by irradiating the GOs with a laser was used to establish the standard curve of temperature variation and cancer cell number. Under optimal conditions, the limit of detection could reach 100 cells. 4T1 cells spiked in human blood could be successfully detected in 1.5 h, and the recovery was between 90.8% and 116.5%.

Microfluidics in the selection of affinity reagents for the detection of cancer: paving a way towards future diagnostics

Microfluidic technologies have miniaturized a variety of biomedical applications, and these chip-based systems have several significant advantages over their large-scale counterparts. Recently, this technology has been used for automating labor-intensive and time-consuming screening processes, whereby affinity reagents, including aptamers, peptides, antibodies, polysaccharides, glycoproteins, and a variety of small molecules, are used to probe for molecular biomarkers. When compared to conventional methods, the microfluidic approaches are faster, more compact, require considerably smaller quantities of samples and reagents, and can be automated. Furthermore, they allow for more precise control of reaction conditions (e.g., pH, temperature, and shearing forces) such that more efficient screening can be performed. A variety of affinity reagents for targeting cancer cells or cancer biomarkers are now available and will likely replace conventional antibodies. In this review article, the selection of affinity reagents for cancer cells or cancer biomarkers on microfluidic platforms is reviewed with the aim of highlighting the utility of such approaches in cancer diagnostics.

Towards the electrochemical diagnosis of cancer: nanomaterial-based immunosensors and cytosensors

In this review, nanomaterial based electrochemical biosensors including electrochemical immunosensors and cytosensors towards cancer detection are covered.

Low-cost bioanalysis on paper-based and its hybrid microfluidic platforms

Low-cost assays have broad applications ranging from human health diagnostics and food safety inspection to environmental analysis. Hence, low-cost assays are especially attractive for rural areas and developing countries, where financial resources are limited. Recently, paper-based microfluidic devices have emerged as a low-cost platform which greatly accelerates the point of care (POC) analysis in low-resource settings. This paper reviews recent advances of low-cost bioanalysis on paper-based microfluidic platforms, including fully paper-based and paper hybrid microfluidic platforms. In this review paper, we first summarized the fabrication techniques of fully paper-based microfluidic platforms, followed with their applications in human health diagnostics and food safety analysis. Then we highlighted paper hybrid microfluidic platforms and their applications, because hybrid platforms could draw benefits from multiple device substrates. Finally, we discussed the current limitations and perspective trends of paper-based microfluidic platforms for low-cost assays.

Biomarker detection for disease diagnosis using cost-effective microfluidic platforms

Early and timely detection of disease biomarkers can prevent the spread of infectious diseases, and drastically decrease the death rate of people suffering from different diseases such as cancer and infectious diseases. Because conventional diagnostic methods have limited application in low-resource settings due to the use of bulky and expensive instrumentation, simple and low-cost point-of-care diagnostic devices for timely and early biomarker diagnosis is the need of the hour, especially in rural areas and developing nations. The microfluidics technology possesses remarkable features for simple, low-cost, and rapid disease diagnosis. There have been significant advances in the development of microfluidic platforms for biomarker detection of diseases. This article reviews recent advances in biomarker detection using cost-effective microfluidic devices for disease diagnosis, with the emphasis on infectious disease and cancer diagnosis in low-resource settings. This review first introduces different microfluidic platforms (e.g. polymer and paper-based microfluidics) used for disease diagnosis, with a brief description of their common fabrication techniques. Then, it highlights various detection strategies for disease biomarker detection using microfluidic platforms, including colorimetric, fluorescence, chemiluminescence, electrochemiluminescence (ECL), and electrochemical detection. Finally, it discusses the current limitations of microfluidic devices for disease biomarker detection and future prospects.

A solution processed carbon nanotube modified conducting paper sensor for cancer detection

A solution processed poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)–carbon nanotube (CNT) nano-composite has been utilized for the fabrication of a smart conducting paper (CP)viadip coating.

Ultrasensitive electrochemical detection of breast cancer cells based on DNA-rolling-circle-amplification-directed enzyme-catalyzed polymerization

An ultrasensitive cytosensor based on DNA-rolling-circle-amplification-directed enzyme-catalyzed polymerization is demonstrated. As a proof of concept, the cytosensor shows excellent sensitivity for MCF-7 cell detection with a lower detection limit of 12 cells per mL.