Liquid Biopsy in a Microfluidic Chip for Rapid and Non-Invasive Point-of-Care Diagnostics

Dear Colleagues,

“Liquid biopsy” has gained a tremendous amount of interest in clinical diagnostics, as well as in patient care, due to its non-invasive nature compared to traditional tissue biopsy. Circulating tumor cells (CTC), cell-free circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), and exosomes that can be isolated from blood and other body fluids without removing tissues, which are sometimes difficult to access, offer exciting new opportunities for early cancer diagnostics. Several studies have already indicated that CTC cells, ctDNA and vesicles can be linked to specific disease states and can potentially be used as biomarkers for early detection, as well as for continuous monitoring of the progress of a treatment. To conduct liquid biopsy in a rapid manner, preferably at the point-of-care, the microfluidic chip format offers an integrated solution for sample processing and detection. Compared to other detection platforms, it provides unique advantages with regards to the required sample volume, speed, sensitivity and the possibility for high-throughput screening.  In this Special Issue, we invite research groups from diverse disciplines to submit original research works related to liquid biopsy on a microfluidic chip.  Potential topics, but not limited to, are new microfluidic devices for efficient and rapid isolation of biomarkers from various types of body fluid sources for sample preparation and rapid analysis of biomolecular contents. Clinical studies using microfluidic devices for liquid biopsy are especially welcome. This Special Issue will highlight the progress that has been made in liquid biopsy-on-a-chip, as well as show new opportunities of “liquid-biopsy-on-a-chip” in clinical applications.

Prof. Dr. Yong-Ak (Rafael) Song
Guest Editor

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