This protocol details a method to isolate extracellular vesicles (EVs), small membranous particles released from cells, from as little as 10 μl serum samples. This approach circumvents the need for ultracentrifugation, requires only a few minutes of assay time, and enables the isolation of EVs from samples of limited volumes.
To investigate simple fabrication approaches for multiple assay needs, we created a fluid-absorbing channel system made of cotton material. This device was used to establish a multiple detection platform, and solve contamination issues that commonly affect lateral flow-based biomedical devices, for clinical urinalysis of nitrite, total protein, and urobilinogen.