Trends in miniaturized total analysis systems for point-of-care testing in clinical chemistry

A currently emerging approach enables more widespread monitoring of health parameters in disease prevention and biomarker monitoring. Miniaturisation provides the means for the production of small, fast and easy-to-operate devices for reduced-cost healthcare testing at the point-of-care (POC) or even for household use. A critical overview is given on the present state and requirements of POC testing, on microTAS elements suited for implementation in future microTAS devices for POC testing and microTAS systems for the determination of clinical parameters.