Microfluidics for cell therapy and manufacturing in oncology and regenerative medicine

Abstract

Microfluidics has offered invaluable insight into diagnostics and point-of-care applications due to its small footprint, low costs, and minimal power requirements. As cellular manufacturing has shown significant promise for treating previously insurmountable diseases, microfluidics has expanded its reach into immunotherapy and regenerative medicine with a clinical perspective. Conventional methods to reprogram a target cell to improve prognosis, while innovative on their own, face challenges that miniaturized systems are poised to address. Here, we provide an overview of microfluidic-based technology that highlights significant strides within the field of cell manufacturing to treat cancer and degenerative diseases. We highlight commonly used mechanisms to isolate, transfect, and expand target cells in microfluidic devices. We discuss specific innovative microfluidic-based approaches that demonstrate comparable or exceptional performance compared to traditional methods.