title: Noninvasive prenatal diagnosis.
abstract: Prenatal examination plays an important role in present medical diagnosis. It provides information on fetal health status as well as the diagnosis of fetal treatment feasibility. The diagnosis can provide peace of mind for the perspective mother. Timely pregnancy termination diagnosis can also be determined if required. Amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling are two widely used invasive prenatal diagnostic procedures. To obtain complete fetal genetic information and avoid endangering the fetus, noninvasive prenatal diagnosis has become the vital goal of prenatal diagnosis. However, the development of a high-efficiency separation technology is required to obtain the scarce fetal cells from maternal circulation. In recent years, the rapid development of microfluidic systems has provided an effective method for fetal cell separation. Advantages such as rapid analysis of small samples, low cost, and various designs, greatly enhance the efficiency and convenience of using microfluidic systems for cell separation. In addition, microfluidic disks can be fully automated for high throughput of rare cell selection from blood samples. Therefore, the development of microfluidic applications in noninvasive prenatal diagnosis is unlimited.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Laboratory Science in Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Wei-Lun
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei City Hospital, Women and Children Campus, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Ching-Hua
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Hsiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Laboratory Science in Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Hua-Wei
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Laboratory Science in Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: long0way@msn.com.
authors.forename: Tai-Ping
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000649:Amniocentesis / Q000379:methods*; D015193:Chorionic Villi Sampling; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000068097:Maternal Health; D062145:Maternal Serum Screening Tests / Q000379:methods*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000379:methods; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D004247:DNA
keywords: microfluidic system; noninvasive prenatal diagnosis; prenatal examination