Lab-on-a-disc microfluidic platforms for molecular diagnostics, food safety, and environmental monitoring

Lab-on-a-Disc (LoaD) platforms have gained increasing attention as practical microfluidic tools capable of automating complex analytical workflows on a compact, low-cost centrifugal disc. This design reduces contamination risks and makes the workflow more practical, especially for point-of-care use. LoaD platforms have been applied in different fields in recent years, mainly molecular diagnostics, foodborne pathogen testing, and environmental analysis. For clinical purposes, several discs were developed that combine lysis, nucleic acid purification, and isothermal amplification, and they were able to detect viruses and bacteria such as influenza, SARS-CoV-2, and some cancer-associated genes. Similar approaches have been used for food samples, where LoaD devices helped identify common pathogens even in complex matrices like milk or meat. Environmental studies also benefit from LoaD systems, for example, in monitoring heavy metals, algal toxins, pesticides, or microbial contamination in water and soil. Although the technology has advanced, practical challenges remain, including stable thermal management, valve reliability, variability introduced by viscous samples, and overall fabrication consistency. Ongoing developments in isothermal and CRISPR-based assays, digital nucleic-acid methods, improved disc materials, and simplified optical readers (including smartphone-based ones) are expected to overcome some of these limitations. For these reasons, LoaD platforms are gradually becoming a realistic option for rapid point-of-care diagnostics in biomedical, environmental, and food-safety applications.