The status of the microfluidic industry anno 2019

<p>Henne van Heeren</p>

The status of the microfluidic industry anno 2019

Henne van Heeren

EnablingMNT, Netherlands

: J Nanomater Mol Nanotechnol

Abstract

Over the years microfluidic products have been proposed and commercialized for a range of applications ranging from (potentially) high volume Point of Care products for the general public to specialized instruments for the research community. We see technologies used being based om glass, several types of polymers and silicon. There are currently about 800 companies active in this field. The number of companies involved and their size increases. Last year over 1.6 B$ of Venture Capital has been invested in those companies and several companies have been acquired by large players. At the same time, the academic community working in life science is increasingly exploring microfluidics to deepen our understanding of biological processes. There are even signs of the microfluidic community working together to remedy some of the weaknesses of the microfluidic industry: the diversity of technologies used, the lack of compatibility of the components developed and the non-existence (yet) of standards, generic testing strategies etc. This presentation will give a general overview of the microfluidic industry, explain some trends and sketch the work done by the Microfluidic Association and its supporters in the field of standards for microfluidic interconnecting, modular integration, flow control, generic tests and integration of silicon and microfluidics.