Microfluidic-Integrated Biosensors

Reducing the number of deaths is a worldwide challenge, and microfluidic-integrated biosensors are one of the most promising solutions. The current leading causes of death are cancer and heart disease; their early and precise diagnosis is essential for patients’ successful prognosis and survival. A biosensor is a device to transfer a biological response into a signal by measuring the interaction between the analyte and transducer. It is on-site user-friendly, cost-effective, and with a fast response time. There is a high demand for biosensors with point-of-care (POC) applications. Technological developments are the key driving factors for the biosensor market. With the advent of microfluidics, the development of microfluidic-integrated biosensors has been intensive because the biological targets are nearly always transported by carrier fluid. Microfluidics also improves the biosensors’ sensitivity, accuracy, and controllability while reducing the sensing region. Despite the current development in this field, the design and fabrication of biosensors are still challenging; accurate numerical simulation could be a game-changer, as it improves the understanding of the detection process and significantly reduces the design time. Hence, the importance of developing a numerical framework for this aim is evident. This chapter introduces microfluidic-integrated biosensors, their applications, challenges, and current numerical models for their design and analysis. In the first section, different biosensors and their applications are studied with this aim. The second part of this chapter introduces the importance of the integration of microfluidics in biosensors, their applications, and recent challenges in their design and fabrication. The last section studies the current development in numerical methods for designing and analysing microfluidic-integrated biosensors and discusses their advantages and disadvantages.