Radiotherapy on-chip: microfluidics for translational radiation oncology

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Biotechnology
• Medical Physics

Background:

• Radiotherapy is crucial for cancer treatment, necessitating advanced research tools to study toxicities and drug synergies.
• Microfluidics has revolutionized drug discovery but is underutilized in radiotherapy research.
• Microfluidic devices offer versatile capabilities for radiation physics, radiobiology, and radiotherapy studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the current applications of microfluidics in radiotherapy research.
• To highlight the potential of 'radiotherapy on-a-chip' for translational radiobiology and precision medicine.
• To foster collaboration between microfluidics and radiotherapy communities.

Main Methods:

• Review of state-of-the-art microfluidic applications in radiotherapy.
• Analysis of microfluidic device properties relevant to radiation studies.
• Exploration of 'radiotherapy on-a-chip' concepts.

Main Results:

• Microfluidics provides suitable materials, designs, and multiplexing for radiation physics and radiobiology.
• Emerging 'radiotherapy on-a-chip' models show promise for translational research.
• The integration of microfluidics can enhance the study of radiotherapy effects.

Conclusions:

• Microfluidics holds significant potential to advance radiotherapy research and applications.
• Radiotherapy on-a-chip platforms can accelerate progress in translational radiobiology and precision medicine.
• Collaboration between microfluidics and radiotherapy fields can lead to improved cancer patient care.