Amir S, Arathi A, Reshma S, Mohanan P V
Toxicology Division, Biomedical Technology Wing, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (Govt. of India), Poojapura, Trivandrum 695 012, Kerala, India.
Toxicology Division, Biomedical Technology Wing, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (Govt. of India), Poojapura, Trivandrum 695 012, Kerala, India.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2023 Apr 30;235:123784. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.123784. Epub 2023 Feb 21.
Microfluidics is a revolutionary technology that has promising applications in the biomedical field.Integrating microfluidic technology with the traditional assays unravels the innumerable possibilities for translational biomedical research. Microfluidics has the potential to build up a novel platform for diagnosis and therapy through precise manipulation of fluids and enhanced throughput functions. The developments in microfluidics-based devices for diagnostics have evolved in the last decade and have been established for their rapid, effective, accurate and economic advantages. The efficiency and sensitivity of such devices to detect disease-specific macromolecules like proteins and nucleic acids have made crucial impacts in disease diagnosis. The disease modelling using microfluidic systems provides a more prominent replication of the in vivo microenvironment and can be a better alternative for the existing disease models. These models can replicate critical microphysiology like the dynamic microenvironment, cellular interactions, and biophysical and biochemical cues. Microfluidics also provides a promising system for high throughput drug screening and delivery applications. However, microfluidics-based diagnostics still encounter related challenges in the reliability, real-time monitoring and reproducibility that circumvents this technology from being impacted in the healthcare industry. This review highlights the recent microfluidics developments for modelling and diagnosing common diseases, including cancer, neurological, cardiovascular, respiratory and autoimmune disorders, and its applications in drug development.
微流控技术是一项具有革命性的技术，在生物医学领域有着广阔的应用前景。将微流控技术与传统检测方法相结合，为转化医学研究带来了无数可能性。微流控技术有潜力通过精确操控流体和增强通量功能，构建一个用于诊断和治疗的新型平台。基于微流控的诊断设备在过去十年中不断发展，并因其快速、有效、准确和经济的优势而得以确立。此类设备检测蛋白质和核酸等疾病特异性大分子的效率和灵敏度，对疾病诊断产生了至关重要的影响。使用微流控系统进行疾病建模能够更显著地复制体内微环境，可能成为现有疾病模型的更好替代方案。这些模型可以复制关键的微生理学特征，如动态微环境、细胞相互作用以及生物物理和生化信号。微流控技术还为高通量药物筛选和递送应用提供了一个有前景的系统。然而，基于微流控的诊断在可靠性、实时监测和可重复性方面仍面临相关挑战，这限制了该技术在医疗行业的应用。本综述重点介绍了微流控技术在常见疾病建模和诊断方面的最新进展，包括癌症、神经、心血管、呼吸和自身免疫性疾病，以及其在药物开发中的应用。
