Application of microfluidic chip in basic and clinical ophthalmic research

Microfluidic chip or lab-on-a-chip is a multidisciplinary cross-technology. Among them, organ-on-a-chip technology enables precise regulation of cells and microenvironment at micron level.This tecnology is expected to simulate in vivo human physiology and overcome the shortcomings of traditional animal models and cell culture techniques.In ophthalmology, organ-on-a-chip models are primarily focused on creating biomimetic models of the cornea, retina and posterior chamber to study diseases such as dry eye, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.In addition, continuous monitoring and real-time diagnosis of tear and intraocular fluid biomarkers using microfluidic chips have become a current research hot topic.The microfluidic chips also have a wide range of applications in drug analysis, drug development, and drug screening.This article reviews the recent progress and shortcomings of microfluidic chip in in vitro model construction, point-of-care testing and drug development, and discusses its future development in ophthalmology.

Microfluidic technique; Lab-on-a-chip; Organ-on-chips; Ophthalmology