Antibody consumption reduction in lateral flow immunoassays within porous media

Abstract

In this study, the effect of the geometrical parameters of the Lateral Flow Immunoassay (LFI) membrane on the performance of the pregnancy kits is investigated. Consequently, a new geometry for LFI membrane is proposed based on some theoretical, numerical and experimental observations in order to improve the performance of the related kits. A pregnancy kit (for the detection of hCG in urine samples) is developed and the effect of the relocation of the test and the control lines over the membrane was studied based on the variation of the sample fluid velocity. Using Lattice-Boltzmann simulation of the lateral flow within the porous media and the experimental results, the fluid flow within the kit membrane was fully analyzed. Finally, by focusing on the Washburn model, a modified geometry for the kit’s membrane was suggested while the flow characteristics were studied by using numerical and experimental methods. It is concluded from the observations that in our proposed geometry, the color intensity in the reaction zone of the kit is improved by 9.4 percent that can result in the reduction of antibody consumption in the kit’s membrane that could be a considerable saving during the production process of LFI.