Microfluidics for separation, detection, and engineering of extracellular vesicles.
Lamia A Heikal1, Sherif I Hamdallah2, Salma E El-Habashy1
1Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews
|February 15, 2026
Summary
Microfluidic technologies enhance extracellular vesicle (EV) research by improving EV separation, detection, and engineering. These innovations offer faster, more precise diagnostics and targeted therapies for precision medicine.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Nanotechnology
- Medical Diagnostics
Background:
- Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are crucial biomarkers and therapeutic delivery vehicles.
- Traditional EV isolation methods face limitations in efficiency, purity, and sample volume.
- Microfluidic technologies offer advanced solutions for EV manipulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the application of microfluidic technologies in extracellular vesicle (EV) research.
- To connect microfluidic principles with EV separation, detection, and engineering.
- To highlight the clinical relevance of microfluidics in diagnostics and therapeutics.
Main Methods:
- Exploration of microfluidic isolation strategies: immunoaffinity capture, nanofiltration, acoustic separation, dielectrophoresis.
- Review of microfluidic detection platforms: electrochemical, impedance-based, SPR, and SERS.
- Evaluation of microfluidic approaches for EV loading, surface modification, and bioreactor systems.
Main Results:
- Microfluidic devices demonstrate higher EV recovery rates, purity, and throughput than ultracentrifugation.
- Integrated biosensing enables sensitive, label-free, real-time, single-EV analysis.
- Microfluidics provide precise, efficient, and scalable methods for EV-based drug delivery and engineering.
Conclusions:
- Microfluidic technologies are revolutionizing EV research, offering significant advantages over conventional methods.
- These advancements promise to accelerate the development of faster, more precise diagnostics and targeted therapies.
- Addressing challenges in scaling and standardization will facilitate the clinical adoption of microfluidic EV platforms.
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