Chapter 7. Microfluidic and Organ-on-a-chip-based Technologies for Diabetes Therapy and Research

Diabetes is a severe and complex disease with a high prevalence worldwide. Over the last few years, scientists have worked hard to understand the physiopathology of the disease, develop new treatments and diagnosis tools, and improve the quality of life of diabetic patients. Recently, there has been increased focus on using microfluidic technologies in biomedical applications, especially in diabetes research. In this chapter, we present an overview of the main microfluidic technologies related to diabetes research and how they can help solve several of the issues associated with this disease. We start by introducing diabetes, its characteristics, and its treatments. We continue with microfluidic concepts and the materials and manufacturing methods used to develop the microdevices. The main section of the chapter is dedicated to applications of microfluidic technologies in diabetes research, including sensors and diagnosis tools, pancreatic cell encapsulation for transplantation and the organ-on-chip approach. Finally, we conclude the chapter with the perspectives for potential future developments in microfluidic technologies for diabetes and metabolic syndrome research.