Advanced design and applications of digital microfluidics in biomedical fields: An update of recent progress

Chengbin Yang; Xiangyu Gan; Yuping Zeng; Zhourui Xu; Longqian Xu; Chenxuan Hu; Hanbin Ma; Bao Chai; Siyi Hu; Yujuan Chai

doi:10.1016/j.bios.2023.115723

Advanced design and applications of digital microfluidics in biomedical fields: An update of recent progress

Biosens Bioelectron. 2023 Dec 15:242:115723. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2023.115723. Epub 2023 Oct 1.

Authors

Chengbin Yang¹, Xiangyu Gan², Yuping Zeng³, Zhourui Xu⁴, Longqian Xu⁵, Chenxuan Hu⁶, Hanbin Ma⁷, Bao Chai⁸, Siyi Hu⁹, Yujuan Chai¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address: cbyang@szu.edu.cn.
² School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address: gan.xiangyu@foxmail.com.
³ School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address: 1052101706@qq.com.
⁴ School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address: xuzhouray@szu.edu.cn.
⁵ CAS Key Laboratory of Bio-Medical Diagnostics, Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou, China. Electronic address: xulq@sibet.ac.cn.
⁶ CAS Key Laboratory of Bio-Medical Diagnostics, Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou, China. Electronic address: hcxuan@mail.ustc.edu.cn.
⁷ CAS Key Laboratory of Bio-Medical Diagnostics, Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou, China; Guangdong ACXEL Micro & Nano Tech Co., Ltd, Foshan, China. Electronic address: mahb@sibet.ac.cn.
⁸ Department of Dermatology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Union Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, China; Department of Dermatology, The 6th Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Health Science Center, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address: chaibao@email.szu.edu.cn.
⁹ CAS Key Laboratory of Bio-Medical Diagnostics, Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou, China. Electronic address: husiyi@sibet.ac.cn.
¹⁰ School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address: chaiyj@szu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37832347
DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2023.115723

Abstract

Significant breakthroughs have been made in digital microfluidic (DMF)-based technologies over the past decades. DMF technology has attracted great interest in bioassays depending on automatic microscale liquid manipulations and complicated multi-step processing. In this review, the recent advances of DMF platforms in the biomedical field were summarized, focusing on the integrated design and applications of the DMF system. Firstly, the electrowetting-on-dielectric principle, fabrication of DMF chips, and commercialization of the DMF system were elaborated. Then, the updated droplets and magnetic beads manipulation strategies with DMF were explored. DMF-based biomedical applications were comprehensively discussed, including automated sample preparation strategies, immunoassays, molecular diagnosis, blood processing/testing, and microbe analysis. Emerging applications such as enzyme activity assessment and DNA storage were also explored. The performance of each bioassay was compared and discussed, providing insight into the novel design and applications of the DMF technology. Finally, the advantages, challenges, and future trends of DMF systems were systematically summarized, demonstrating new perspectives on the extensive applications of DMF in basic research and commercialization.

Keywords: Bioassays; Biomedical applications; Digital microfluidic; Magnetic beads manipulation; Sample preparation.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Biological Assay
Biosensing Techniques*
Electrowetting
Microfluidic Analytical Techniques*
Microfluidics