Microfluidic systems in clinical diagnosis

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Clinical Diagnostics
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Microfluidic devices are increasingly vital for biomedical and clinical assessments due to their portability and speed.
• The demand for rapid, point-of-care diagnostic tools is growing, driving innovation in microfluidics.
• Miniaturized systems offer significant advantages for analyzing biological samples efficiently.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent advancements in microfluidic devices for clinical applications.
• To explore the use of microfluidics in quantifying ions, sugars, metabolites, and proteins.
• To discuss the development of devices for single-cell metabolomic and proteomic analysis.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent scientific literature (last 5 years) on microfluidic devices for clinical use.
• Categorization of devices based on analytes: ions/sugars/metabolites, proteins, and single-cell analysis.
• Evaluation of device maturity, cost-effectiveness, and novel contributions.

Main Results:

• Microfluidics are successfully applied in quantifying key biomarkers from bodily fluids.
• Wearable real-time devices for analyte quantification show increasing maturity and cost-effectiveness.
• Devices for single-cell metabolomic and proteomic assessments represent a significant frontier.

Conclusions:

• Microfluidic technology is rapidly evolving for diverse clinical diagnostic applications.
• Recent innovations focus on enhanced sensitivity, portability, and multiplexed analysis.
• Future directions include further integration into point-of-care settings and advanced single-cell studies.