Point-of-care diagnostics for sepsis using clinical biomarkers and microfluidic technology

Sepsis is a life-threatening immune response which is caused by a wide variety of sources and is a leading cause of mortality globally. Rapid diagnosis and appropriate antibiotic treatment are critical for successful patient outcomes; however, current molecular diagnostic techniques are time-consuming, costly and require trained personnel. Additionally, there is a lack of rapid point-of-care (POC) devices available for sepsis detection despite the urgent requirements in emergency departments and low-resource areas. Recent advances have been made toward developing a POC test for early sepsis detection that will be more rapid and accurate compared to conventional techniques. Within this context, this review discusses the use of current and novel biomarkers for early sepsis diagnosis using microfluidics devices for POC testing. [Display omitted] •Demonstrate a range of clinical biomarkers available for the detection of sepsis.•Discusses several approaches based on microfluidics used for point of care diagnosis of sepsis.•Opportunities and challenges in detection of sepsis for lab-to-fab translation.•Need to develop multiplexed systems for reliable detection of sepsis.