Table 1.
Comparison of the detection methods for infectious diseases based on microfluidics
| Detecting methods | Microfluidic systems | Amplification methods | Extracting methods | Analyte | Performance | Pros and cons | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fluorescence | µPAD | RCA | CNAEK | SARS-CoV-2 RNA |
0.7 aM 15 min |
#Superior sensitivity, low cost, easy to operate, rapid analysis *High background noise |
[4] |
| LOCC | LAMP | CNAEK | Virus DNA |
74 copies/µl 30 min |
[21] | ||
| LOCC | RCA | Silica beads | Influenza RNA |
0.5 fM 40 min |
[25] | ||
| LOAD | – | Silica beads | E. coli O157:H7 DNA | 60% EE | [27] | ||
| – | SEA | Silica membrane | Vibrio parahaemolyticus DNA | 10 CFU/g | [30] | ||
| LOCC | RT-qPCR | Silicon micropillars | Virus RNA | 95% EE | [32] | ||
| µPAD | PCR | Chitosan porous membranes | Bacteria DNA | 89% EE | [40] | ||
| – | LAMP | Microcapillary | Blood DNA | 0.2 µl sample 150 min | [41] | ||
| µPAD | RT-PCR | FTA membranes | HIV RNA |
3 copies/µl 5 min |
[50] | ||
| LOAD | RT-PCR | CNAEK | SARS-CoV-2 RNA |
10 copies/µl 15 min |
[53] | ||
| LOAD | RT-PCR | CNAEK | SARS-CoV-2, influenza A and B RNA |
10 copies/µl 57 min |
[60] | ||
| LOAD | PCR | CNAEK | β-actin DNA |
70.5 pg/channel 10 min |
[64] | ||
| LOAD | RT-LAMP | CNAEK | SARS-CoV-2 RNA |
2 copies/µl 70 min |
[72] | ||
| LOAD | RT-LAMP | CNAEK | Virus RNA |
10 copies/µl 40 min |
[74] | ||
| LOAD | RT-LAMP | CNAEK | SARS-CoV-2 RNA |
15 copies/µl 45 min |
[75] | ||
| µPAD | RT-RPA | CNAEK | HIV RNA |
5 copies/µl 45 min |
[78] | ||
| LOAD | RPA | CNAEK | S. aureus DNA |
3 CFU/µl 60 min |
[79] | ||
| Electrochemistry | – | – | Silicon nitride nano filter | E. coli O157:H7 DNA | – |
#Rapid detection, easy to fabricate, low cost, portable and self-controlled *Unstable and susceptible |
[28] |
| – | – | Silicon nitride nano filter | Micro RNA | 30 min | [29] | ||
| LOCC | LAMP | Magnetic beads | Bacteria DNA |
10 copies/µl 15 min |
[33] | ||
| LOCC | RT-LAMP | Magnetic beads | SARS-CoV-2 RNA |
470 copies/µl 60 min |
[38] | ||
| LOCC | RT-PCR | Magnetic beads | Virus RNA |
40 copies/µl 100 min |
[43] | ||
| LOCC | PCR | CNAEK | E. coli O157:H7 DNA |
100 CFU/ml 60 min |
[61] | ||
| Colorimetry | µPAD | LAMP | FTA card | Blood DNA |
90 min 3 copies/µl |
#Portable, low cost, easy to prepare, naked eye readout *Unable to quantitatively detect, limited sensitivity |
[44] |
| – | PCR | FTA card | Leishmaniasis DNA | 60 min | [47] | ||
| – | PCR | FTA card | Plasmodium DNA |
3 parasites/µl 45 min |
[48] | ||
| LOAD | RT-LAMP | CNAEK | SARS-CoV-2 RNA |
0.1 copy/µl 10 min |
[73] | ||
| Magnetic | LOCC | – | Magnetic beads | H. pylori DNA | DNA purification and 40-fold pre-concentration within 7 min |
#Low cost, efficient, rare sample preparation, negligible magnetic background *Hard to read out magnetic signals with miniaturized systems |
[37] |
| LOAD | RT-LAMP | Magnetic beads | SARS-CoV-2 RNA |
8 samples in parallel 30 min |
[39] |
Performance includes the limit of detection, testing time (min), extraction efficiency (EE), and other characteristics (# refers to advantage and * refers to disadvantage). "–" means the information is not officially available from public data or is too complicated to be noted; LOCC lab on a cartridge chip, LOAD lab on a disc, µPAD microfluidic paper-based analytical device, RCA rolling circle amplification, LAMP loop-mediated isothermal amplification, SEA strand exchange amplification, RT-qPCR reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction, PCR polymerase chain reaction, RT-LAMP reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification, RT-RPA reverse-transcription recombinase polymerase amplification, CNAEK commercial nucleic acid extraction kits, FTA Finders Technology Associates, aM 10–18 mol/L, fM 10–15 mol/L, CFU colony-forming units, SARS-CoV-2 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, E. coli Escherichia coli, S. aureus Staphylococcus aureus, H. pylori Helicobacter pylori