Current commercial dPCR platforms: technology and market review

Digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) technology has provided a new technique for molecular diagnostics, with superior advantages, such as higher sensitivity, precision, and specificity over quantitative real-time PCRs (qPCR). Eight companies have offered commercial dPCR instruments: Fluidigm Corporation, Bio-Rad, RainDance Technologies, Life Technologies, Qiagen, JN MedSys Clarity, Optolane, and Stilla Technologies Naica. This paper discusses the working principle of each offered dPCR device and compares the associated: technical aspects, usability, costs, and current applications of each dPCR device. Lastly, up-and-coming dPCR technologies are also presented, as anticipation of how the dPCR device landscape may likely morph in the next few years.

Automated summary

This paper introduces the digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) technology and its applications in molecular diagnostics. The dPCR technology has advantages of high sensitivity, precision, and specificity, and has been commercialized by several companies. The paper compares the working principles, technical aspects, usability, costs, and applications of dPCR devices from different companies, and discusses the future trends of dPCR devices in the next few years.