An immunochromatographic biosensor combined with a water-swellable polymer for automatic signal generation or amplification

An immunochromatographic assay (ICA) strip is one of the most widely used platforms in the field of point-of-care biosensors for the detection of various analytes in a simple, fast, and inexpensive manner. Currently, several approaches for sequential reactions in ICA platforms have improved their usability, sensitivity, and versatility. In this study, a new, simple, and low-cost approach using automatic sequential-reaction ICA strip is described. The automatic switching of a reagent pad from separation to attachment to the test membrane was achieved using a water-swellable polymer. The reagent pad was dried with an enzyme substrate for signal generation or with signal-enhancing materials. The strip design and system operation were confirmed by the characterization of the raw materials and flow analysis. We demonstrated the operation of the proposed sensor by using various chemical reaction-based assays, including metal-ion amplification, enzyme-colorimetric reaction, and enzyme-catalyzed chemiluminescence. Furthermore, by employing C-reactive protein as a model, we successfully demonstrated that the new water-swellable polymer-based ICA sensor can be utilized to detect biologically relevant analytes in human serum.