Pressure-driven microfluidic perfusion culture device for integrated dose-response assays.

Cell-based assays are widely used in the various stages of drug discovery. Advances in microfluidic systems over the past two decades have enabled them to become a powerful tool for cell-based assays to achieve both reliability and high throughput. The interface between the micro-world and macro-world is important in industrial assay processes. Therefore, microfluidic cell-based assays using pressure-driven liquid handling are an ideal platform for integrated assays. The aim of this article is to review recent advancements in microfluidic cell-based assays focusing on a pressure-driven perfusion culture device. Here, we review the development of microfluidic cell-based assay devices and discuss the techniques involved in designing a microfluidic network, device fabrication, liquid and cell manipulation, and detection schemes for pressure-driven perfusion culture devices. Finally, we describe recent progress in semiautomatic and reliable pressure-driven microfluidic cell-based assays.