Development Status and Future of In Vitro Diagnostic Technology

In vitro diagnostic (IVD) technology refers to products and services that obtain clinical diagnostic information by testing samples of the body including blood, body fluids, and tissues outside the human body, thereby helping to judge diseases or body functions.

1. The new darling of in vitro diagnostics: microfluidic chips

In recent years, the rise and integration of various new technologies and methods have promoted the development, application and replacement of in vitro diagnostic (IVD) instruments and reagents. In such a vast market, how does microfluidic chip technology stand out and lead a new trend?

In fact, during the nanotechnology revolution of the 1980s, the microfluidic chip was just a small branch. By the late 1990s, after the development of the material science of the chip substrate and the fluid movement technology of the microchannel, the microfluidic chip technology has also made great progress, and finally found a breakthrough in the application of in vitro diagnostics, reappeared in the public eye, and finally successfully achieved commercialization.

The microfluidic chip can integrate a series of basic operation units involved in the fields of chemistry and biology, such as sample preparation, reaction, separation, and detection, into a micron-sized chip. At the same time, the network formed by the microchannel can run through the entire system, with the advantages of portability, low energy consumption, easy production, easy to master, etc., and is easy to meet the needs of life sciences for low-dose, more efficient, high-sensitivity, and rapid separation and analysis of biological samples.

2. In vitro diagnostics can monitor the recurrence of skin cancer

Patients with advanced melanoma skin cancer can be monitored for cancer recurrence during treatment by performing blood tests on cancer patients. Researchers from the UK conducted research on the detection and analysis of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in blood samples from seven patients with advanced melanoma. Their findings demonstrate that cancer recurrence can be judged by tracking ctDNA levels in the blood. In addition, researchers have also found that if mutations in genes such as NRAS and PI3K are detected, it is very likely to be accompanied by cancer recurrence during cancer treatment.

3. Analysis of application prospects of in vitro diagnostics

In vitro diagnostic technology has developed rapidly in recent years, spanning from gene sequencing, SNP screening, point mutation genetic diagnosis at the gene level, to various biomarker detection at the protein level, circulating tumor cell detection (CTC) at the cell level, thin-layer liquid-based cytology test (TCT), and PET/CT at the tissue level. There is also a recent report indicate that a drop of blood can detect multiple disease indicators. In general, in vitro diagnosis is developing in a simpler, faster, non-invasive, and multi-information direction.

Modern people are paying more and more attention to their health. It has become a habit for many people to have annual physical examination, and the unit physical examination has also become a necessary employee benefit. The main purpose of physical examination is the prevention and early detection of diseases, and in vitro diagnosis has a huge market in this field, and the detection can be completed by using samples such as blood, urine, feces, body fluids, secretions, etc.