Lab on a Chip for point-of-care testing

How miniaturization speeds up diagnostics

Disposable microfluidic chip
© Fraunhofer IMM
Disposable microfluidic chip

The trend towards miniaturization has become well established in medical diagnostics and will be further continued, in particular by use of the lab-on-a-chip technology which enables rapid tests in disposable plastic chips. Therefore, innovative physicochemical methods are miniaturized and automated. They are used in systems which allow regular point-of-care tests or continuous patient monitoring. Personalized medicine (e.g. oncology) is another trend in which the use of miniaturized tests allows for an individual therapeutic approach using genetic characterization.

"We miniaturize your tests and enable you to apply individual therapeutic approaches"


The key challenge of on-site analysis (Point-of-Care Testing) is to downsize the measurement systems to compact and thus portable devices. The spectrum of analytes ranges from biomarkers and DNA to living cells or pathogens (bacteria and viruses) which can directly be isolated and detected from a blood, saliva or swab sample. The development of advanced sample preparation methods (one example among others is the so called “Liquid Biopsy”) combined with sensitive measurement technologies (e.g. nucleic-acid or immunodiagnostic based) allows for a complete, automated sample analysis (sample in - answer out).

Our existing portfolio for point-of-care diagnostics:

  • REACTION: Continuous detection of glucose using a portable sensor system
  • SIMPLEX:    Fully automated nucleic amplification and detection for pathogens
  • CTCelect:   Platform technology for liquid biopsy sample processing and cell counting

Offer to our customers

Due to the unique, broad coverage of all necessary core technologies (integration of bioassays, chip design and manufacturing, systems engineering, prototype and apparatus engineering, optics and sensor technology, electronics and software) we are able to rapidly develop an application idea to a fully functional demonstrator.

  • We adjust your assay to an automated microfluidic environment and develop customized detection assays and total systems for point-of-care testing or patient monitoring,
  • we optimize the processes and the production costs with regard to the commercialization of the systems.

Whether you are interested in a system for rapid diagnostics of diseases or you want to continuously monitor your patients’ health in the long run, we realize your ideas.