Low cost and scalable manufacture of lab-on-chip devices for applications such as point-of-care testing is an urgent need. Weaving is presented as a unified, scalable and low-cost platform for the manufacture of fabric chips that can be used to perform such testing. Silk yarns with different properties are first selected, treated with the appropriate reagent solutions, dried and handloom-woven in one step into an integrated fabric chip. This platform has the unique advantage of scaling up production using existing and low cost physical infrastructure. We have demonstrated the ability to create pre-defined flow paths in fabric by using wetting and non-wetting silk yarns and a Jacquard attachment in the loom. Further, we show that yarn parameters such as the yarn twist frequency and weaving coverage area may be conveniently used to tune both the wicking rate and the absorptive capacity of the fabric. Yarns optimized for their final function were used to create an integrated fabric chip containing reagent-coated yarns. Strips of this fabric were then used to perform a proof-of-concept immunoassay with sample flow taking place by capillary action and detection being performed by a visual readout.

Textile weaving is presented as a new, highly scalable and affordable route for fabrication of electrochemical sensors.

We report a new point-of-care, multiplexed immunoassay platform based on 3D porous hydrogel particle sensors embedded into a plastic microfluidic device.

A colloidal gold-based lateral flow immunoassay was developed for the rapid quantitative detection of Cystatin-C in serum and whole blood. This device has an assay time of 15 min, making it a convenient point-of-care diagnostic tool. The device has a quantification range spanning from 0.5 to 7.5 µg/mL, with a lower limit of detection at 0.18 µg/mL. To validate its accuracy, the test was compared to a standard nephelometric immunoassay, and the results exhibited a robust linear correlation with an adjusted r² value of 0.95. Furthermore, the device demonstrates satisfactory levels of analytical performance in terms of precision, sensitivity, and interference, indicating its potential for precise Cystatin-C quantification, particularly in renal-failure patients. Notably, the Cystatin-C-LFA device also demonstrates satisfactory stability, as a 30-day accelerated stability study at 50 °C showed no change in the device performance, indicating a long shelf life for the product when stored at room temperature.

The selection of competent human sperm influences the successful outcome of Assisted Reproductive Technology. Conventionally used techniques like density gradient and swim-up, use motility-based separation, which may not correlate with the maturity and quality of the sperm. Existing techniques that select mature sperm based on hyaluronic acid binding ability, select very small numbers of sperm, rendering them unsuitable for intra-uterine insemination. We report the development of a new method, USelect that selects and isolates millions of mature sperms based on their ability to bind to hyaluronic acid. Validation of Uselect was done on semen samples (n=40) compared with the conventional methods, like density gradient, and swim up. Subsequently, Uselect selected sperms were used for intra-uterine insemination in a clinical trial (n=50 female patients). Sperm isolated using USelect showed similar mean sperm count and rapid progressive motility compared to SU, but lower than the density gradient method. However, the DNA fragmentation index and hyaluronic acid binding capacity were statistically significant in the USelect sperms that promoted the fertilization rate and showed a higher percentage of biochemical pregnancy (32%, n=16) than density gradient (18%, n=9).