Development of a Miniaturized, Automated, and Cost-Effective Device for Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay

In this work, a miniaturized, automated, and cost-effective ELISA device is designed and implemented, without the utilization of conventional techniques such as pipetting or microfluidic valve technologies. The device has dimensions of 24 cm × 19 cm × 14 cm and weighs <3 kg. The total hardware cost of the device is estimated to be approximately $1200, which can be further reduced through optimization during scale-up production. Three-dimensional printed disposable parts, including the reagent reservoir disk and the microfluidic connector, have also been developed. IL-6 is used as a model system to demonstrate how the device provides an ELISA measurement. The cost per test is estimated to be <$10. The compactness, automated operation, along with the cost-effectiveness of this ELISA device, makes it suitable for point-of-care applications in resource-limited regions.