A Hybrid Approach for Large-scale Fabrication of Paper-based Electrochemical Assays for Biomedical Diagnosis

Abstract

The electrochemical method offers a sensitive, portable, and cost-effective method for detecting a range ofanalytes and has the capacity to be miniaturized. However, according to the World Health Organization,there is a need for point-of-care devices that meet the criteria for medical diagnostics in remote and resourcelimited regions, as set forth by the World Health Organization. In this context, we developed a low-cost andhigh-throughput method for fabricating paper-based devices for electrochemical assays using a desktop penplotter. In this study, we used a permanent marker to plot hydrophobic barriers and a liquid dispenser topattern three electrodes (working, counter, and reference electrodes) with carbon paste on a paper substrate.To test the performance of the fabricated electrochemical devices, chronoamperometric and cyclicvoltammetric analyses of potassium ferricyanide was conducted. Further, to demonstrate of the possiblebiomedical diagnostic applications, a quantitative glucose assay was performed. Here, we presented a lowcost electrochemical device fabrication method convenient for large-scale fabrication and widespreadimplementation of paper-based technologies in developing countries and resource-limited settings.