A paper-based colorimetric chemosensor is developed for highly rapid, selective, and sensitive detection of sulfide in water.

Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) have long been used in laboratory facilities and recently revolutionized the field of molecular diagnostics in point-of-care testing. Digital microfluidics (DMF) has emerged as a promising tool to complete the entire NAAT workflow in a miniaturized format with minimum human intervention. Based on electric fields to manipulate independent reaction droplets, the compact DMF system could perform multiple processes simultaneously and automatically in a programmable fashion. This combination is beginning to establish powerful sample-to-answer platforms in remote or resource-limited settings. Herein, we provide a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art DMF technology for point-of-care NAAT. This review focused on key principles of DMF platforms and the latest trends in system integration for automated processes of nucleic acid extraction, amplification, and detection. Also, this article discusses current challenges, including control systems, scalability and throughput, as well as future prospects of DMF-based NAAT strategy for the next generation of point-of-care diagnostics.

Microfluidics is a multidisciplinary science that includes physics, chemistry, engineering, and biotechnology. Such microscale systems are receiving growing interest in applications such as analysis, diagnostics, and biomedical research. Thermoplastic polymers have emerged as one of the most attractive materials for microfluidic device fabrication owing to advantages such as being optically transparent, biocompatible, cost-effective, and mass producible. However, thermoplastic bonding is a key challenge for sealing microfluidic devices. Given the wide range of bonding methods, the appropriate bonding approach should be carefully selected depending on the thermoplastic material and functional requirements. In this review, we aim to provide a comprehensive overview of thermoplastic fabricating and bonding approaches, presenting their advantages and disadvantages, to assist in finding suitable microfluidic device bonding methods. In addition, we highlight current applications of thermoplastic microfluidics to analyses and diagnostics and introduce future perspectives on thermoplastic bonding strategies.