Merging Microfluidics with Micro-titre Technology for More Efficient Drug Discovery

Detecting multiple components from a single red blood cell (RBC) sample within a flow-based system and in less than 20 minutes will enable improved in vitro determinations of drug efficacy and cellular response to administered drugs. Here, an example of an improved in vitro measurement involving iloprost, a pharmaceutical reported to improve blood flow, has been determined by incorporating multiple cell types onto a single device. The method allows fluid flow to address individual rows of wells contained within an 18-well microfluidic array that serves as a precursor to a 96-well micro-titre plate device. The ability to better mimic the in vivo circulation by incorporating the flow of blood components, coupled with simultaneous detection and laboratory automation in place for micro-titre plates, suggests that the microfluidic array presented here will allow for improved mechanistic drug research studies. Utilizing fluorescence microscopy, concentrations of multiple metabolites present within the RBC can also be determined using the microfluidic array. The current progress towards using this device for personalized medicine is presented here.