Materials for Microfluidic Immunoassays: A Review.
Conventional immunoassays suffer from at least one of these following limitations: long processing time, high costs, poor user-friendliness, technical complexity, poor sensitivity and specificity. Microfluidics, a technology characterized by the engineered manipulation of fluids in channels with characteristic lengthscale of tens of micrometers, has shown considerable promise for improving immunoassays that could overcome these limitations in medical diagnostics and biology research. The combination of microfluidics and immunoassay can detect biomarkers with faster assay time, reduced volumes of reagents, lower power requirements, and higher levels of integration and automation compared to traditional approaches. This review focuses on the materials-related aspects of the recent advances in microfluidics-based immunoassays for point-of-care (POC) diagnostics of biomarkers. We compare the materials for microfluidic chips fabrication in five aspects: fabrication, integration, function, modification and cost, and describe their advantages and drawbacks. In addition, we review materials for modifying antibodies to improve the performance of the reaction of immunoassay. We also review the state of the art in microfluidic immunoassays POC platforms, from the laboratory to routine clinical practice, and also commercial products in the market. Finally, we discuss the current challenges and future developments in microfluidic immunoassays.
Beijing Engineering Research Center for BioNanotechnology and CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for NanoScience and Technology, No. 11 Zhongguancun Beiyitiao, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China.|The University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 A Yuquan Road, Shijingshan District, Beijing, 100049, P. R. China.
Lei
L
Mou
Beijing Engineering Research Center for BioNanotechnology and CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for NanoScience and Technology, No. 11 Zhongguancun Beiyitiao, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China.|The University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 A Yuquan Road, Shijingshan District, Beijing, 100049, P. R. China.
Xingyu
X
Jiang
D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay / Q000295:instrumentation*; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D001672:Biocompatible Materials
Immunoassays; Microfluidics; Point-of-Care