In general, the sample pad is made of cellulose or glass fibre, to transport the sample under test to the following components of the strip 5. As shown in Figure Figure1, 1, while the backing plate provides support for strip assembling, all the other components are overlapping (2-3 mm) with each other sequentially to ensure that the liquid solution migrates through the LFA strip. All of these elements are assembled on a paper strip including five components: the sample pad, conjugate pad, membrane, absorbent pad, and backing plate 5. Lateral flow assay (LFA), also known as immunochromatographic assay or strip test, is one of the most investigated POCT technologies 3, 4.Ī typical LFA consists of three elements, the recognition element, reaction element, and signal transduction element. Consequently, efforts have been made to develop simplified point-of-care test (POCT) devices featured by ease of use, rapid response, high affordability, and low analyte volume requirement 2. Although various currently used analytical techniques including high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), mass spectrometry, ELISA assays allow highly sensitive and specific detection, their application depends heavily on trained personnel and sophisticated instrumental facilities 1. The effective detection of hormones, proteins and microorganisms in clinical samples, or contaminants in food or environment is crucial for disease control and public health management. In this work, by analysing the key issues of aptamer-based LFA design, including immobilization strategies, signalling methods, and target capturing approaches, we provide a comprehensive overview about aptamer-based LFA design strategies to facilitate researchers to develop optimised aptamer-based LFAs. But commercial aptamer-based LFAs are still not used widely compared with antibodies. Over the past decades, different forms of aptamer-based LFAs have been introduced for broad applications ranging from disease diagnosis, agricultural industry to environmental sciences, especially for the detection of antibody-inaccessible small molecules such as toxins and heavy metals. The recent progress in aptamer technology provides an opportunity to combine the potential of aptamer and LFA towards building a promising platform for highly efficient point-of-care device development. However, the high inter-batch variations, error margin and storage requirements of the conventional antibody-based LFAs significantly impede its applications. Currently used LFAs predominantly use antibodies. Lateral flow assay (LFA) has made a paradigm shift in the in vitro diagnosis field due to its rapid turnaround time, ease of operation and exceptional affordability.
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