HP Innovation Journal Issue 15: Summer 2020 | Page 16

FROM THE LABS: MICROFLUIDICS
Current testing is still relatively limited, and
the processing is sometimes lengthy. Most
testing to detect the novel coronavirus (SARS-
CoV-2) associated with COVID-19 currently
requires test kit samples to be sent to a lab,
with transit times of up to 24 hours. Once at
the lab, testing for the virus is time-consuming
and labor-intensive, sometimes stretching six
hours from start to finish. People are left waiting
days for the results. Capacity for testing
and the necessary supplies are also limited.
While some large hospitals have in-house labs
to perform these tests, they can only process a
fraction of what commercial labs can handle;
commercial labs, in turn, involve ever-longer
wait times due to increased demand.
What if we could move testing closer to
the patient and reduce processing from days
or hours to minutes? At-home, in-office, or
point-of-care rapid diagnostic tests would
allow large swaths of the workforce to know
if they are virus-free and okay to go back to
work, or students to know if they are okay to
return to the classroom. Microfluidics technology
could make that happen.
From the lab to the living room
In the simplest of terms, microfluidics is the
ability to handle fluids (like fluid collected
with a nasal swab or a patient's cells) at a
micro level and with great precision, thus
shrinking multiple lab functions down into
a small, portable format. Microfluidics technology
has great potential for healthcare
diagnostics, agriculture, forensics, water
testing, and environmental screening.
Portability, speed, affordability, and high
precision make microfluidics testing ideal
for situations like the current pandemic.
Small, lightweight molecular testing devices
can enable diagnostics at the point-of-care,
in office, or even at home, reducing test-result
time from days to minutes.
Around the globe, universities, scientists,
and companies are racing to develop rapid
field tests for COVID-19 using microfluidics.
University of Michigan researchers are working
on microfluidics-based antibody tests.
Stanford researchers are exploring adapting
microfluidics tests for tuberculosis to detect
the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. U.K.-
based Dolomite Microfluidics and Mologic
are collaborating on point-of-need detection
testing. In fact, the FDA has approved some
point-of-care testing for emergency use from
INNOVATION/ SUMMER 2020
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