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Updated: Aug 17, 2025
Microfluidic Chip Fabrication and Method to Detect Influenza
Published on: March 26, 2013
Recent advancements in nucleic acid detection with microfluidic chip for molecular diagnostics
Zheng Li1, Xiaojian Xu1, Dou Wang1
1Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Smart Healthcare Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Biomaterials, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, No. 1088, Xueyuan Rd., Xili, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, PR China.
Microfluidic chips offer a solution to the complex and contamination-prone nature of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) nucleic acid testing. These miniaturized devices integrate detection processes for faster, more accessible diagnostics.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Molecular Diagnostics
- Clinical Chemistry
Background:
- COVID-19 accelerated the adoption of nucleic acid testing.
- Traditional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods present challenges in operation, personnel, and laboratory requirements.
- Contamination is a significant issue in current nucleic acid detection methods.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the routine process of nucleic acid testing, including sample processing and detection.
- To summarize microfluidic chip technologies and recent advancements for nucleic acid detection.
- To discuss challenges and future trends in microfluidic-based nucleic acid detection.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on nucleic acid testing and microfluidic chip technology.
- Analysis of sample processing and nucleic acid detection workflows.
- Examination of amplification-free microfluidics and CRISPR integration.
Main Results:
- Microfluidic chips enable the integration and miniaturization of complex nucleic acid detection processes.
- Emerging technologies like amplification-free microfluidics with CRISPR offer rapid detection solutions.
- Microfluidics addresses limitations of traditional PCR, including operational complexity and contamination risks.
Conclusions:
- Microfluidic chips are crucial for advancing clinical nucleic acid testing.
- Future trends point towards more integrated, rapid, and user-friendly microfluidic diagnostic platforms.
- Further development is needed to overcome current challenges in microfluidic nucleic acid detection.
