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Migration of Luminex Assays to Deployed Point-of-Care
- Emily Sutterby
- Aug 25
- 3 min read
Discover how Axxin is supporting the migration of Luminex assays onto Array Lateral Flow cartridges for deployed point of need testing.
From routine clinical settings, food safety, and environmental monitoring through to global pandemics, diagnostic tools provide vital actionable data that illuminates the path towards informed decision making.
Within the diagnostics sphere, multiplexing, that is the ability to detect multiple analytes from a single sample, can help to provide a more robust picture of the situation leading to more reliable diagnoses. Emerging technologies such as Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) promise the ability to analyse hundreds, if not thousands, of analytes to provide a comprehensive overview of the target of interest. However, multiplexing often necessitates an increase in assay complexity, increasing costs, time-to-results, and relying on bulky equipment operated by trained technicians, thus limiting their accessibility and confining their use to centralised laboratories.
Conversely, readily-deployed diagnostic tools such as Lateral Flow Assays (LFA) offer low-cost, easy-to-use diagnostics at the Point-of-Care, providing timely results when quick decisions are required. LFA platforms have seen successful application across a broad range of Point-of-Care and field-deployed industries including healthcare, environmental monitoring, food safety, agriculture, and animal health.
These tests, however, may lack the accuracy, sensitivity, and multiplex capabilities of laboratory-based assays. Thus, researchers and clinicians must balance the need for robust detection methods with usability and accessibility to guide decision making from containing disease outbreaks, monitoring water quality, or studying disease mechanisms.
Of particular interest among laboratory-based assays are Luminex xMAP® assays. This technology revolutionised the multiplex immunoassay space, reducing the time required to perform complex quantification studies. They achieve highly multiplexed detection of analytes using colour-coded microspheres or beads each coated with reagents specific to a particular bioassay. Using a Luminex instrument (similar to a flow cytometer), beads are excited to determine the bead label, which corresponds to the bioassay for an analyte of interest. A second laser determines the magnitude of the derived signal, which is proportional to the amount of bound analyte. By mapping these two signals the amount of analyte bound to each bead and the corresponding bioassay can be resolved.
This method facilitates very high multiplexing capabilities with low sample volumes and processing requirements. The specialised instruments utilised in the workflow are currently more suitable operation within laboratory facilities to run a diagnostic test.
Axxin’s Array Lateral Flow supports the translation of Luminex xMAP® chemistry to LFA cartridges. This migration aims to bring high multiplex capabilities to a Point-of-Care setting on low-cost cartridges capable of operating outside the laboratory to provide robust results in deployed Point-of-Care applications.
Array Lateral Flow can take the established assay chemistry of Luminex xMAP® and print it in an array of spots on a lateral flow test strip, allowing for greater multiplexing of a single sample with space for multiple assay and flow controls.
The Axxin AX-2X-S instrument provides multiplexed detection for both visual (colloidal gold) and florescence detection. Migrating from visual to fluorescence particle systems can provide increased sensitivity and wide dynamic ranges. Using a combination of visual and florescent detection algorithms on the instrument, visual detection wavelengths can support cartridge validation, barcode reading, filtering of sample artefacts and flow discrimination while supporting the high sensitivity florescence detection of markers with accurate quantification. In addition, Axxin instruments are suitable for deployed IVD diagnostic test systems, with proven pathways to regulatory submission including FDA, IVDR, WHO pre-qualification, and TGA.
Building on the well-established AX-2X-S platform, Axxin has released the AX-2X-S-Array instrument and Kinetic Desktop assay development software optimised for array lateral flow. This updated platform can support the translation of Luminex xMAP® assays onto low-cost array lateral flow cartridges.
Download Axxin's poster "Migration of Luminex Assays to Deployed Point of Care on Axxin Lateral Flow Array Platform" to find out how ZiP Diagnostics migrated their established blood-borne virus detection assay to Axxin Array Lateral Flow.