How microfluidics could bring flow cytometry closer to point-of-care testing

Flow cytometry can rapidly measure the number, size, molecular markers and functional states of individual cells, supporting applications from blood analysis and immunophenotyping to infectious-disease diagnosis and cell-therapy quality control. Yet conventional instruments are typically large, costly and dependent on complex fluidics, optics and specialist software, limiting their use outside centralized laboratories.

A new review published in Biomedical Analysis examines how microfluidic technologies could bring flow cytometry closer to point-of-care testing (POCT). Researchers from Anhui Medical University, the University of Science and Technology of China, and Tsinghua University reviewed recent advances in fluid driving, cell focusing, signal detection and data analysis, and assessed how these functions can be simplified and integrated for portable single-cell testing.

Why Bring Flow Cytometry Closer to the Patient?

POCT requires rapid and reliable testing at or near the site of sample collection, including primary care, bedside testing, field screening and resource-limited settings. Microfluidic chips offer low sample consumption, controllable fluid manipulation and compact system integration, but adapting flow cytometry to these settings requires more than simply shrinking conventional instruments.

The review shows a broader technological transition: from bulky external pumps toward capillary-, vacuum- or manually driven fluid handling; from sheath-flow focusing toward sheathless approaches; from conventional detection systems toward miniaturized impedance, optical and imaging methods; and from desktop analysis toward embedded, smartphone-based and cloud-assisted processing. Each strategy involves trade-offs among performance, cost, hardware complexity and cartridge compatibility.

From Four Modules to a Closed Cartridge

For practical POCT, the four modules must ultimately operate as one system. Real clinical testing may also require sample loading, dilution, filtration, staining, red blood cell lysis, washing and safe waste collection. The review therefore highlights disposable closed cartridges as an important direction, with sample preparation, fluid driving, cell focusing, detection and waste handling integrated into an automated sample-to-result workflow.

This integration could reduce manual pipetting, external tubing and open sample handling, but it introduces new challenges, including reagent prestorage, long-term stability, bubble and clogging control, manufacturing consistency and cost.

Designing for the Clinical Question

The review emphasizes that a point-of-care flow cytometer does not need to reproduce every capability of a laboratory instrument. Instead, the detection parameters and technical combination should be selected according to the clinical task. Potential near-term applications include blood cell counting, leukocyte differential analysis, CD4 cell counting and imaging-based white blood cell classification. More complex applications, such as tumor-cell detection and cell-therapy quality assessment, will require additional task-specific development and clinical validation.

What Still Stands Between Prototypes and Clinical Use?

Many systems covered in the review remain proof-of-concept demonstrations using cultured cells, spiked samples or preprocessed specimens. Evidence from unprocessed clinical samples, fully disposable closed cartridges, non-specialist users and resource-limited settings remains limited. Clinical translation will also require validation across devices and cartridge batches, representative datasets for machine-learning models, compliance with medical-device regulations and protection of patient data.

Looking ahead, progress will depend on balancing analytical performance with system complexity, manufacturing cost and operational simplicity. The review points toward cartridge-based, automated and intelligent single-cell analysis platforms designed around specific diagnostic scenarios.

“The goal is not simply to make conventional flow cytometers smaller,” said Professor Tingrui Pan. “Point-of-care systems should be designed around specific clinical needs, providing the minimum but sufficient cellular information required for clinical decision-making.”

DOI: 10.1016/j.bioana.2026.08.002

Read the full article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950435X26000260

Call for Papers

Biomedical Analysis invites submissions for its 2026 Special Issue.

1. Biosensing and Nanoanalytical Technologies
Topics include advanced biosensing, nanoanalytical technologies, multimodal sensing, bioanalysis, and applications in disease diagnosis and precision medicine.
Submission deadline: September 30, 2026

 View Special Issue : https://www.sciencedirect.com/special-issue/334121/biosensing-and-nanoanalytical-technologies

2.POCT Technology Innovation and Application
Topics include novel POCT detection technologies, POCT materials and device development, multi-scenario applications, and intelligent and digital POCT.
Submission deadline: December 31, 2026.

View Special Issue :  https://www.sciencedirect.com/special-issue/10B8MK2ZDWC

About Biomedical Analysis

Biomedical Analysis is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal published by KeAi and Elsevier and jointly sponsored by Sun Yat-sen University and the Guangzhou Analysis and Testing Center.

The journal publishes high-quality research in biomedical engineering, bioanalytical chemistry, biochemistry, genetics, biology, biomaterials, medicine, and related interdisciplinary fields, with a particular focus on biomedical testing, sensing technologies, and analytical innovation. Biomedical Analysis is indexed in Scopus, CAS, DOAJ, and EBSCO. Article processing charges (APCs) are currently waived for accepted manuscripts through the end of 2026.

Journal website: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/biomedical-analysis.