Innovative manufacturing of a flexible printed mobile Point-of-Care sensor platform: diagnosis tool for early detection

Millions of people who suffer from different diseases use personal Point-of-Care (PoC) diagnostics systems daily to monitor diseases such as glucose, cholesterol or cardiac markers among others. New highly portable personal diagnosis tools for early detection are required to obtain fast diagnostics response. Today, the widespread availability of smart miniaturized systems is limited by the difficulties to integrate the required functionalities into a single solution at low cost and high volume using conventional production technologies. Integration of technologies dedicated for 3D printing and Printed Electronics for their low cost, low-processing temperature (compatibility with paper substrates) and fabrication flexibility are proposed to overcome these limitations. The Flex-PoC project will focus on the development of a paper lab-on-a-foil solution based on printed electrochemical biosensors and microfluidics together with a hybridized silicon electronic circuitry for easy-to-use tests. Near Field Communication (NFC) technology will contribute to develop a simplified cost-effective, disposable, autonomous and reliable PoC platform using additive manufacturing processes.