Shining a Light on Cancer-Photonics in Microfluidic Tumor Modeling and Biosensing

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Optics and Photonics
• Cancer Research

Background:

• Microfluidic platforms offer miniaturized, physiologically relevant in vitro cancer models.
• Light and optical technologies provide efficient and versatile tools for microscale manipulation and quantification.
• Current methods require advancement in engineering complex cancer microenvironments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the role of photonics in microfluidic 3D cancer modeling and biosensing.
• To highlight optical technologies for manipulating cells and biomaterials.
• To discuss optofluidics for data extraction and optical biosensing for biomarker detection.

Main Methods:

• Review of optical-driven technologies for microscale cell and biomaterial manipulation.
• Exploration of optofluidics for interfacing microfluidic chips and data acquisition.
• Analysis of light-matter interactions for cancer biomarker and circulating tumor cell detection.

Main Results:

• Optical technologies enable precise engineering of 3D microfluidic cancer models, including architecture, cellular complexity, and vascularization.
• Optofluidics facilitates extraction of biological data, including 3D imaging of cells within microchannels.
• Optical biosensing advances detection of cancer biomarkers, circulating tumor cells, and exosomes.

Conclusions:

• Photonics is crucial for advancing microfluidic 3D cancer modeling and biosensing.
• Future research in photonic technologies will propel the field forward.
• Challenges and caveats in current applications are identified to guide future research.