CandyCollect: An Open-Microfluidic Device for the Direct Capture and Analysis of Salivary-Extracellular Vesicles

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are promising biomarkers for disease detection using a liquid biopsy approach, in which they are enriched and analyzed directly from biofluids. However, implementing EV biomarker technologies in the clinic remains limited by the need for practical and patient-centric biofluid collection methods that are compatible with downstream EV processing and analysis. While saliva offers a non-invasive source of EVs, its complexity and heterogeneity--cells, debris, and other non-EV proteins--can present hurdles when using traditional analytical platforms. Here, we present the CandyCollect, a lollipop-inspired sampling device with open microfluidic channels, as a patient-fri