Pereiro I, Aubert J, Kaigala GV. Micro-scale technologies propel biology and medicine.
Biomicrofluidics 2021;
15:021302. [PMID:
33948133 PMCID:
PMC8081554 DOI:
10.1063/5.0047196]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2021] [Accepted: 04/05/2021] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Historically, technology has been central to new discoveries in biology and progress in medicine. Among various technologies, microtechnologies, in particular, have had a prominent role in the revolution experienced by the life sciences in the last few decades, which will surely continue in the years to come. In this Perspective, we illustrate how microtechnologies, with a focus on microfluidics, have evolved in trends/waves to tackle the boundary of knowledge in the life sciences. We provide illustrative examples of technology-enabled biological breakthroughs and their current and future use in clinics. Finally, we take a closer look at the translational process to understand why the incorporation of new micro-scale technologies in medicine has been comparatively slow so far.
Collapse