A microfluidic device for rapid quantification of cell-free DNA in patients with severe sepsisElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5lc00681c

A rapid and accurate method to identify severe sepsis patients at high risk of death is critically needed for clinical practice. In a recent study, the concentration of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in blood was found to be a prognostic indicator for ICU mortality in patients with severe sepsis. However, current DNA quantification techniques are time-consuming and involve extensive sample preparation. In this paper, we demonstrate a low-cost microfluidic device capable of rapid quantification of cfDNA in a small droplet (