Next Generation Bioanalysis by Microfluidics-Integrated Methods, Devices, and Systems

Microfluidics is a rapidly evolving field in recent decades. With a critical dimension between 100 nm and 100 μm, microfluidic devices are envisioned to provide multiple benefits for biomedical and analytical applications, such as low reagent consumption, improved controllability, and consistency over small sample volumes (μL to pL range), and possibly multiplexed parallel processing. Traditional bioengineering and analytical methods face the challenges of cost, efficiency, automation, and portability, thus their coupling with microfluidics and other techniques may bring forth many advantages including integration, programmability, high throughput, fast response, and so on. Microfluidic technologies may offer new functionalities, such as on-chip handling of fluid samples, separation of analytes, and manipulation of suspended bioparticles, which allows new possibilities for realizing innovative biomedical devices. Accordingly, microfluidics-integrated biomedical microdevices have emerged as a hot research topic in recent years, and an increasing number of publications appear each year at the convergence of biophysics, biochemistry, electrochemistry, optics, magnetics, imaging, and other single or multiple methods. The goal of this Research Topic is to provide a forum to share recent research on microfluidics-integrated methods, devices, and systems for realizing next-generation bioanalysis.

Types of manuscripts include Original Research, Reviews, Mini-Reviews, and Perspective articles. Themes to be investigated may include, but are not limited to:

1. Molecular and cell sorting
2. Microfluidic biosensors with various sensing mechanisms
3. Microfluidics aided nucleic acid and genetic testing
4. Digital microfluidics
5. Lab on a chip
6. Organ on a chip