Microfluidic devices for drug discovery and analysis

Microdevices, since their inception in the last decade of the twentieth century, have changed our view of science, due to their potential applications in fields ranging from optics, semiconductors and the microelectronics industry to drug discovery and development, point-of-care clinical diagnostics, sensitive bioanalytical systems and other areas of the biological sphere. In this chapter we review the potential applications of microfluidic platforms for drug discovery applications comprising high-throughput screening in target selection, lead identification/optimization and preclinical testing. Application of microfluidics in chemical analysis, as well as analysis of metabolites in blood for studying pathology, is also discussed.