With recent technological advances in multiple research fields such as materials science, micro-/nano-technology, cellular and molecular biology, and bioengineering, much attention is shifting toward the development of new diagnostic tools that address needs not only for high sensitivity and specificity but fulfil economic, environmental, and rapid point-of-care needs for groups and individuals with constrained resources and, possibly, limited training. Miniaturized fluidics-based platforms that precisely manipulate tiny body fluid volumes can be used for medical or healthcare diagnosis in a rapid and accurate manner. These new diagnostic technologies are potentially applicable to different healthcare issues, since they are disposable, inexpensive, portable, and easy to use for the detection of human diseases (e.g., cancers or infectious diseases) – especially when they are manufactured based on low-cost materials such as paper. The purpose of this book is to bridge new diagnostic technologies and biology with medicine, focusing more on their applications for point-of-care diagnostics.
The topics regarding point-of-care diagnostics in this book that we have addressed cover the overview of the point-of-care diagnostic devices, microfluidic diagnostic device and treatment for assisted reproductive technologies, new materials for making diagnostic devices, and cellphone-
-based diagnostic devices. Here, we would like to express our deep appreciation to all authors. Without their full support, this book, including the review and original articles, would probably not be published on schedule. This book may not cover all topics in this emerging field – the development of practical tools and technologies for point-of-care diagnostics, but we firmly believe that our efforts have the potential to provide impetus to highly impactful innovations and challenging discussions in relevant academic and commercial communities.