Recent advancements in paper microfluidics for blood analysis and diagnostics

Paper microfluidics has emerged as a transformative technology in blood analysis and diagnostics, offering a portable, cost-effective, and user-friendly alternative to traditional laboratory tests. This review discusses the progress in paper microfluidics for blood tests over the past five years, focusing on their potential to revolutionize point-of-care testing in resource-limited settings. After providing an overview of blood composition and the evolution of blood testing technologies, the review explores innovative advances in emerging microfluidic paper-based analytical devices for blood detection. It categorizes their applications based on the type of blood sample used and whether pretreatment techniques are required, enabling developers to efficiently identify suitable methodologies aligned with the intended sample state and accelerate the prototyping of devices. In addition, this review summarizes how paper substrate, is innovatively repurposed into auxiliary tools to enhance blood detection processes through its adaptability. Challenges in commercialization and promising directions for future development are also discussed.