Microfluidic systems for drug discovery, pharmaceutical analysis, and diagnostic applications

Microdevices, since their inception in the last decade of 20th century, have changed our outlook toward science and technology due to their potential applications in fields ranging from optics, semiconductors, and microelectronics industry to drug discovery and development, point-of-care clinical diagnostics, sensitive bioanalytical systems, and other areas of the biological sphere. Microfluidics comprise constraining liquids on a micrometer or submicrometer scale. The fast growth and widespread research pertaining to microfluidic systems have been sustained by their appositeness for abovementioned biological applications that can be carried out using smaller sample volumes and at a fraction of the cost and time as compared to conventional macroscale systems. In this chapter, we review the potential applications of microfluidic platforms for drug discovery applications comprising high throughput screening in target selection, lead identification/optimization, and preclinical testing. We also discuss the potential applications of microfluidics in chemical analysis as well as analysis of metabolites in blood for studying pathology, which can potentially replace conventional benchtop equipment by miniaturized chips that are portable and can be easily handled.