Recent developments and patents on biological sensing using nanoparticles in microfluidic systems

Microfluidic systems provide a total solution of biological and chemical analysis from the sample application to the display of the analysis results. A lot of developments on the point-of-care diagnostic applications have been reported and the commercial possibility is shown. To achieve sensitive and specific biological sensing, nanoparticles may provide a promising tool because they have similar length scale with the biomolecules. The nano-sensing technology suggests a molecular level detection of the biomolecules to pursue higher performance. In this review, recent developments and patents on the biological sensing using nanoparticles in microfluidic systems are discussed. An updated, systematic and rapid reference in the field of nano-biological sensing is provided. © 2013 Bentham Science Publishers.