To address these challenges in using TLC in a point-of-care format, we present here a viable pathway to deploy TLC as a reliable quantitative assay in a bedside clinical setting. To achieve this, a number of critical aspects had to be addressed, namely (a) facile sample processing, (b) straightforward plate development, (c) accurate analyte quantification by simple means and, most crucially, (d) placing the full TLC process within a self-contained hermetically sealed cartridge to prevent the release of hazardous compounds during sample loading, TLC plate development, and fluorescent readout thereby enabling operation in non-laboratory environments.