In healthcare, new diagnostic tools that help in the diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of diseases rapidly and accurately are in high demand. For in-situ measurement of disease or infection biomarkers, point-of-care devices provide a dramatic speed advantage over conventional techniques, thus aiding clinicians in decision-making. During the last decade, paper-based analytical devices, combining paper substrates and electrochemical detection components, have emerged as important point-of-need diagnostic tools. This review highlights significant works on this topic over the last five years, from 2015 to 2019. The most relevant articles published in 2018 and 2019 are examined in detail, focusing on device fabrication techniques and materials applied to the production of paper fluidic and electrochemical cell architectures as well as on the final device assembly. Two main approaches were identified, that are, on one hand, those ones where the fabrication of the electrochemical cell is done on the paper substrate, where the fluidic structures are also defined, and, on the other hand, the fabrication of those ones where the electrochemical cell and liquid-driving paper component are defined on different substrates and then heterogeneously assembled. The main limitations of the current technologies are outlined and an outlook on the current technology status and future prospects is given.
Keywords: biomarker analysis; electrochemical detection; paper microfluidics; paper-based device; point-of-care; point-of-need.