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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Fabrication of a Lateral Flow Assay for Rapid In-Field

Detection of COVID-19 Antibodies Using Additive

Manufacturing Printing Technologies

Abdulelah A. Alrashoudi , Hamed I. Albalawi , Ali H. Aldoukhi , Manola Moretti ,
1†
1†
1†
1
Panayiotis Bilalis , Malak Abedalthagafi , Charlotte A. E. Hauser *
2,3
1,4
1
1 Laboratory for Nanomedicine, Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering, King Abdullah
University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
2 King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
3 Department of Genomics Research, King Fahad Medical City and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology,
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
4 Computational Bioscience Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900,
Saudi Arabia
† These authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract: The development of lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) using three-dimensional (3D) printing and bioprinting
technologies can enhance and accelerate the optimization process of the fabrication. Therefore, the main goal of this study is
to investigate methods to speed up the developing process of a LFIA as a tool for community screening. To achieve this goal,
an in-house developed robotic arm and microfluidic pumps were used to print the proteins during the development of the test.
3D printing technologies were used to design and print the housing unit for the testing strip. The proposed design was made
by taking into consideration the environmental impact of this disposable medical device.
Keywords: Lateral flow immunoassay; COVID-19; Diagnostic tools; 3D Printing; Additive manufacturing technologies;
Microfluidic pumps

*Correspondence to: Charlotte A. E. Hauser, Laboratory for Nanomedicine, Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering,
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia; charlotte.hauser@kaust.edu.sa
Received: June 15, 2021; Accepted: July 29, 2021; Published Online: August 23, 2021

Citation: Alrashoudi AA, Albalawi HI, Aldoukhi AH, et al., Fabrication of a Lateral Flow Assay for Rapid In-Field Detection of COVID-19
Antibodies Using Additive Manufacturing Printing Technologies. Int J Bioprint, 7(4):399. http://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.v7i4.399

1. Introduction and for that, the World Health Organization declared
COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11, 2020 . Since
[4]
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS- then, huge efforts to identify people with active infection
CoV-2) is the causative virus of coronavirus disease of SARS-CoV-2 were implemented in order to stop the
2019 (COVID-19), and the first case was reported in spread of the virus. Detecting individuals with active
China in December 2019 . SARS-CoV-2 is a RNA infection require polymerase chain reaction testing in
[1]
virus that belongs to the coronavirus family and has nasal or throat swab samples, and the test results are used
multiple structural proteins on its surface, including to identify and isolate positive cases so as to limit the
spike, nucleocapsid, membrane, and envelope proteins . transmission of the virus . Antibodies against the viral
[2]
[5]
The virus causes severe respiratory symptoms requiring spike and nucleocapsid surface proteins are developed
mechanical ventilation and intensive care unit admission, and can be detected in the serum of infected 14 days after
and contributes to high mortality rates . Moreover, the infection . Thus, testing serum or blood samples for
[3]
[6]
the virus had high transmissibility between humans, antibodies against the viral surface proteins, especially
© 2021 Alrashoudi, et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting distribution
and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is cited.
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