Many studies have demonstrated that an alteration in hemorheological properties, such as red blood cell (RBC) deformability, is closely correlated with diabetic microcirculatory diseases. However, most of these studies have been limited to animal studies or used a small number of clinical samples, due to a lack of effective point-of-care (POC) devices to measure such properties within clinical environments. Owing to recent developments in microfluidic technology, several hemorheological POC devices have been designed that allow for the possibility of conducting extensive clinical studies using hemorheological measurements. Here, we reviewed recent clinical studies of chronic kidney disease and diabetic nephropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes associated with hemorheological parameters. We found that RBC deformability alone did not show a significant difference according to the degree of DN, whereas critical shear stress was closely correlated with the glomerular filtration ratio and the albumin-to-creatinine ratio. We also reviewed studies that alteration of hemorheological properties are associated with the development of DN, which showed that critical shear stress could be considered as a potential index to diagnose not only diabetes-related kidney disease but also other diabetes-related complications.

Several multiplex nucleic acid assay platforms have been developed in response to the increasing importance of nucleic acid analysis, but these assays should be optimized as per the requirements of point-of-care for clinical diagnosis. To achieve rapid and accurate detection, involving a simple procedure, we propose a new concept in the field of nucleic acid multiplex assay platforms using hydrogel microparticles, called barcode receptor-encoded particles (BREPs). The BREP assay detects multiple targets in a single reaction with a single fluorophore by analyzing graphically encoded hydrogel particles. By introducing sets of artificially synthesized barcode receptor and barcode probes, the BREP assay is easily applicable in multiplexing any genetic target; sets of barcode receptors and barcode probes should be designed delicately for universal application. The performance of the BREP assay was successfully verified in a multiplex assay for the identification of different malaria species with high sensitivity, wide dynamic range, fast detection time, and multiplexibility.