Study on Mathematical Model and Simulation of Sandwich-type Lateral Flow Immunoassay

A mathematical model of sandwich-type lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) is established to describe the dynamic process of LFIA according to the biochemical principle of LFIA together with the convection-diffusion equations and the hydromagnetic equations. Based on the established model, the COMSOL software is utilized to simulate the dynamic process of LFIA. The simulation results not only demonstrate the relationships between the concentration of the sandwiched substance and the position or the time, but also analyze the influences of the initial concentrations of all substances and the structure on the performance of LFIA system when the target analyte A is from 0 to 20 mol/L, reporter particle P is from 1 x 10(-2) mol/L to 1 x 10(3) mol/L and the porosity is from 0 to 1. Especially, within a certain concentration range, the increasing concentration of target analyte A and reporter particle P will enhance the quantitative performance of LFIA, and the porosity affects the result by controlling the flow rate of the test mixture and the material contact in the mixture.