Microfluidic chips as drug screening platforms

The selection of a disease model is a crucial factor in drug screening. Research based on microfluidic chips utilizes various chip designs and cell culture methods to overcome the limitations of other drug screening models. Drug screening research using microfluidic chips can be categorized into three main areas: pathogens, cancer, and antiviral therapeutics, with each category tailored to specific disease types. For antibiotic research, strategies such as chip parallel design and implementation of drug concentration gradients have been used to reduce screening time. Drug screening through the implementation of cancer spheroids has been utilized for anticancer research, and for antivirals, strategies to enhance biocompatibility through simulation of virus-infected tissues have been employed. This paper discusses the approaches used in each research area, their advantages and limitations, and future research directions.