title: A lab-in-a-briefcase for rapid prostate specific antigen (PSA) screening from whole blood.
abstract: We present a new concept for rapid and fully portable prostate specific antigen (PSA) measurements, termed "lab-in-a-briefcase", which integrates an affordable microfluidic ELISA platform utilising a melt-extruded fluoropolymer microcapillary film (MCF) containing an array of 10 200 μm internal diameter capillaries, a disposable multi-syringe aspirator (MSA), a sample tray pre-loaded with all of the required immunoassay reagents, and a portable film scanner for colorimetric signal digital quantification. Each MSA can perform 10 replicate microfluidic immunoassays on 8 samples, allowing 80 measurements to be made in less than 15 minutes based on semi-automated operation, without the need of additional fluid handling equipment. The assay was optimised for the measurement of a clinically relevant range of PSA of 0.9 to 60.0 ng ml(-1) in 15 minutes with CVs on the order of 5% based on intra-assay variability when read using a consumer flatbed film scanner. The PSA assay performance in the MSA remained robust in undiluted or 1 : 2 diluted human serum or whole blood, and the matrix effect could simply be overcome by extending sample incubation times. The PSA "lab-in-a-briefcase" is particularly suited to a low-resource health setting, where diagnostic labs and automated immunoassay systems are not accessible, by allowing PSA measurement outside the laboratory using affordable equipment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK. n.m.reis@lboro.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Ana I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Barbosa
authors.forename: Ana P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Castanheira
authors.forename: Alexander D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: Nuno M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Reis
mesh_terms: D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008297:Male; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen