Microfluidic Chips Fabrication and Integration for Tumor‐Derived Exosomes Detection

Abstract

Abstract Exosomes are a type of small extracellular vesicles carrying proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids. Because their expression levels are highly correlated with tumor development, exosomes are regarded as non‐invasive biomarkers for cancer diagnosis. Therefore, many exosome detection techniques are developed to provide a new way for cancer diagnosis. However, conventional techniques require the isolation of exosomes from body fluids before analysis, which usually relies on complex equipment and cumbersome operations. In addition, complex procedures may introduce impurities and thus affect the accuracy of the test. As an emerging analysis technology, microfluidic overcomes these shortcomings by integrating a microchannel for sample transport isolation and an exosome analysis module, showing great prospects in cancer diagnosis. This review will provide an overview of microchannel fabrication and analysis methods with outstanding compatibility for different microfluidic types, with a particular focus on microfluidic‐based exosome analysis methods that have the potential for clinical application.