Microfluidic Paper-based Analytical Devices in Clinical Applications

• Published in: Chromatographia Vol. 83; no. 6; pp. 693 - 701
• Main Authors: Han, Tingting, Jin, Yuhang, Geng, Chunyang, Aziz, Aziz ur Rehman, Zhang, Yang, Deng, Sha, Ren, Haijun, Liu, Bo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.06.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analytical Chemistry; Biomarkers; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chromatography; Environmental monitoring; Laboratory Medicine; Medical research; Microchannels; Microfluidics; Pharmacy; Production methods; Proteomics; Review; Water quality; μPADs; Clinical applications; Detection methods
• ISSN: 0009-5893; 1612-1112
• DOI: 10.1007/s10337-020-03892-1

Microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (µPADs) take the paper as a base material and integrate nanoscale microchannel on it for multiple detections. Its unique properties like low cost, portability, simple operation, and easy to save make it better than the traditional microfluidic chips. While designed originally for point-of-care medical diagnostics, µPADs have attracted the attention of many researchers in the fields of environmental monitoring, water quality, and food safety. The novelty of this paper is to present a detailed overview of µPADs for clinical applications. Firstly, a brief introduction to production methods, characteristics, and applications of these methods have been given. Secondly, the basic implementation, working principles, and corresponding performance of detection methods of clinical devices have been discussed, which enable the µPADs to detect biomarkers, human cells, bacteria, and viruses in a short time. Lastly, the factors that limit µPADs commercial applications, and their future research directions have also been briefly summarized.