Microchip devices for detecting terrorist weapons

Escalating threats of terrorist activity have led to urgent demands for innovative devices for on-site detection of chemical and biological agents and explosive materials. Field detection of such hazardous substances requires that a powerful analytical performance be coupled to miniaturized low-powered instrumentation. "Lab-on-a-Chip" devices, where liquids are manipulated in a microchannel network, offer great promise for converting large and sophisticated instruments into powerful field-deployable analyzers. Particularly attractive for on-site security applications is the very small footprint of microchip devices, high degree of integration, high performance, fast response, and versatility. This article reviews a variety of microchip-based protocols and devices for detecting terrorist weapons. Such microfluidic devices offer great promise for transporting the forensic laboratory to the sample source, and providing an early warning prior to terrorist activity, or a rapid post-analysis 'fingerprints' of a disaster site. Due to the small footprint of microchip devices, it could be possible to perform multiple assays simultaneously. Such prospects, challenges and applications are discussed. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.