Microfluidic Devices & Point of Care Applications
In the world today we wants results fast, in the now. A major stumbling block in point of care applications, such as monitoring environmental pollutants or disease diagnostics, is that samples have to be sent to a lab for processing after collection.
However, tracking the chemicals in the environment in a fully integrated manner is challenging. Pathogen diagnosis also has its own challenges and each pathogen can be detected differently than the others. Microfluidic devices, on the other hand, are showing promising results when being applied to point-of-care applications for both monitoring environmental microorganisms and pathogen detection.
What makes an ideal Point-of-Care Device?
The following characteristics, in general, make an ideal Point-of-Care device:
- High Sensitivity: When detecting pathogens or harmful chemicals in the environment, often a very low concentration can be deadly . For this reason, POC (point-of-care) devices should be highly sensitive to capture and detect very low amounts of the target component or pathogent.
- Real-Time Analysis: The entire purpose of a POC device is to be able to access and analyze samples in real-time.
- Quick Sample to Result Turnaround: POC devices allows diagnosis to happen quicker, thus allowing for early intervention and increased survival rate.
- Integrate-able: The POC device needs to be able to integrates with established monitoring systems, allowing for the transfer of data to researchers or clinicians in real-time
Advantages to using Microfluidic Devices in Point-of-Care Devices
The unique features found in microfluidic diagnostic chips, such as modularity, portability, low reagent, and sample consumption, combined with high sensitivity make these microchips suitable for point of care applications.
Microfluidics offers handheld chips that are integrable with magnetic, optical, electrical, and electrochemical modules. Magnetic modules can open/close valves in the chips or help in sample preparation. Electrical and optical sensors are very common as both actuators and readout systems. Electrochemical techniques such as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) can easily be employed in the chip for extracting data. These microfluidic point-of-care chips are highly sensitive and are able to process very small amounts of samples. Microfluidic devices are excellent choices for the rapid detection of both environmental pollutants such as heavy metals and microorganisms and human pathogens in Point Of Care (POC) applications.
Citrogene: Microfluidic Device Manufacturer
Citrogene is the leading manufacturer of microfluidic devices. Our engineers worth with you and your design to create microfluidic devices that will suit your specific needs. When it comes to producing the ideal microfluidic device for your specific needs, there’s only one microfluidic partner to consider: Citrogene. Our proprietary process allows us to create precise, customized, state-of-the-art microfluidic devices based on your needs, all produced in glass. Contact us today to learn more.