Table 1.

Comparison of the three major technologies for drug assays.

Technique	Microtiter Well Plates	Droplet Microfluidics	Single Phase Microfluidics
Pros	Parallelizable	Extremely high parallel throughput	Very fast readout
	Miniaturization	Post processing possible	Continuous process possible
	Many commercial options available	Commercial options are currently emerging Highly customizable	Allows motility and viability assay High control over concentration via diffusion Highly customizable
Neutral	Current gold standard	Emerging technology (start-ups)	Niche technology
Cons	Long assay durations (days)	No industrial standard yet	Lower throughput
	Evaporation	Needs additional handling of oil and surfactants to generate droplets	Sample volumes are not isolated
	Local concentration gradients	Adding of compounds over time requires additional chip architecture	Unwanted diffusion Currently no commercial availability