01 Increasing Demand for Point-of-care Testing POC (point-of-care) testing allows healthcare experts to diagnose a patient in the physician’s office, in an ambulance, at home, on-field, or in the hospital. Lab-on-a-chip-technology-assisted devices are employed for POC testing, as they require small samples and use micro-fabricated channels to analyze these samples. Microfluidics is an enabling technology for POC diagnostic devices. Since they can miniaturize and integrate the majority of the functional modules used in central laboratories into a small chip, microfluidics and lab-on-chip technologies have been regarded as promising solutions that can meet the requirement of the POCT. The diagnosis results can be delivered promptly to help professionals make wise medical decisions.In addition, the use of point-of-care diagnostics in primary care gives precise results. It is cost-effective compared to other methods, which can drive its demand in disease diagnostics. For instance, the research study published in January 2021, titled “Cost-Effectiveness of Point-of-Care A1C Tests in a Primary Care Setting”, concluded that the use of POC-A1c devices in primary care settings can monitor glycated hemoglobin A1c as a marker in people living with type 2 diabetes and is a cost-effective alternative, which will further fuel the growth in the studied market of lab-on-a-chip and microarray market. Thus, owing to the ease of use and ability to provide instant results, combined with ease of procurement, the use of POC diagnostics is increasing rapidly, and this, in turn, is promoting the overall growth of the market.
02 Increasing Incidences of Chronic Diseases Chronic diseases, like heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and arthritis, are long-lasting in their effects and are persistent for more than three months. These diseases are not passed from person to person and are also called non-communicable diseases.For instance, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2021 Key facts, globally, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) kill 41 million people yearly, equivalent to 71% of all deaths. Between the ages of 30 and 69, more than 15 million people per year pass away from a non-communicable disease; 85% of these "premature" deaths occur in low- and middle-income nations. Low- and middle-income nations account for 77% of all non-communicable illness fatalities. Most non-communicable disease deaths, or 17.9 million people each year, are caused by cardiovascular diseases, followed by cancers (9.3 million), respiratory illnesses (4.1 million), and diabetes. It is anticipated that the rising prevalence of chronic diseases will further boost the need for diagnostic tests, accelerating the global market growth for lab-on-a-chip and microarray products.
01 Design Constraints of Lab-on-chip Technology The design and fabrication of functional, low-cost devices on a very small scale is the main obstacle to developing lab-on-a-chip technology. As per a 2020 article by Elveflow, contemporary research on lab-on-a-chip technology focuses on the design of specific surface treatments. In designing LOC or microfluidic devices for biomedical applications, sensitive detection modules, like thermal cyclers for PCR reactions, mass spectrometers for sample analysis, microscopes for cells, fluorescence visualization, and bacteria, are required. Such developments indicate the limited benefits and decreased adoption of lab-on-chip technology. Thus, the complex design of the lab-on-chip technology continues to restrain the overall market growth.
01 Increasing Application of Proteomics and Genomics in Cancer Research The world of life science research has improved significantly over the past decade. Introducing new technologies may enable researchers to achieve more results using smaller amounts of reagents. Hereditary mutations play an essential role in the risk of cancer, and understanding them can lead to the development of preventive measures to reduce the likelihood of developing cancer. These mutations can be analyzed in various ways, such as by sequencing and other methods. However, microarray studies provide the most inexpensive solution. With arrays, hundreds of thousands of SNPs can be simultaneously studied across large sample sets. Several scientists now use microarrays as a screening tool to increase their understanding of cancer cytogenetics.Additionally, the proteomics approach has gained popularity in cancer studies, according to a September 2021 research article titled "Application of Proteomics in Cancer: Recent Trends and Approaches for Biomarkers Discovery." Proteomics-based technologies have made it possible to find potential biomarkers and protein expression patterns that can classify tumors, predict their prognosis, and determine which patients might respond well to a given treatment. Such studies indicate that the growing focus on cancer research is augmenting the demand for microarray and lab-on-a-chip technology products, thereby driving market growth. Hence, all these factors are expected to drive the overall market.
June 2026 Agilent Technologies completed the acquisition of Biocare Medical, strengthening its pathology diagnostics portfolio and expanding integrated biomarker, molecular diagnostics, and laboratory workflow capabilities that complement lab-on-a-chip and microarray-based diagnostic applications.
June 2026 Bluejay Diagnostics entered a strategic partnership with Argonaut Manufacturing Services to establish scalable U.S. manufacturing and commercialization capabilities for its Symphony™ point-of-care diagnostic platform, supporting future lab-on-a-chip diagnostic production and distribution.
June 2026 Agilent Technologies partnered with Sound Analytics to advance LC/MS workflows for drug metabolism research, expanding integrated analytical workflows that support microarray and lab-on-a-chip applications in pharmaceutical R&D.
June 2025 Illumina announced the acquisition of SomaLogic from Standard BioTools for USD 350 million plus milestone payments, strengthening its multiomics strategy by integrating SomaLogic's proteomics platform with Illumina's genomics technologies, enhancing applications alongside microarray and lab-on-a-chip workflows.