In vitro cytotoxicity testing is essential in the pharmaceutical and environmental industry to study the effects of potential harmful compounds for human health. Classical assays present several disadvantages: they are commonly based on live-death labelling, are highly time consuming and/or require skilled personnel to be performed. The current trend is to reduce the number of required cells and the time during the analysis, while increasing the screening capability and the accuracy and sensitivity of the assays, aiming single cell resolution. Microfabrication and surface engineering are enabling novel approaches for cytotoxicity assessment, offering high sensitivity and the possibility of automation in order to minimize user intervention. This review aims to overview the different microtechnology approaches available in this field, focusing on the novel developments for high-throughput, dynamic and real time screening of cytotoxic compounds.

体外细胞毒性测试对于研究潜在有害化合物对人类健康的影响在制药和环境行业至关重要。经典的测定法具有几个缺点：它们通常基于活死标记，耗时长和/或需要熟练的技术人员来执行。当前的趋势是减少分析过程中所需细胞的数量和时间，同时提高筛选能力以及测定的准确性和灵敏度，以实现单细胞分辨率为目标。微细加工和表面工程使细胞毒性评估的新方法成为可能，并提供了高灵敏度和自动化的可能性，以最大程度地减少用户干预。这篇综述旨在概述该领域可用的不同微技术方法，