PCR has been widely used in different fields including molecular biology, pathogen detection, medical diagnosis, food detection and etc. However, the difficulty of promoting PCR in on-site point-of-care testing reflects on challenges relative to its speed, convenience, complexity, and even cost. With the emerging state-of-art of microfluidics, rapid PCR can be achieved with more flexible ways in micro-reactors. PCR plays a critical role in the detection of SARS-CoV-2. Under this special background of COVID-19 pandemic, this review focuses on the latest rapid microfluidic PCR. Rapid PCR is concluded in two main features, including the reactor (type, size, material) and the implementation of thermal cycling. Especially, the compromise between speed and sensitivity with microfluidic PCR is explored based on the system ratio of (thermal cycling time)/(reactor size). Representative applications about the detection of pathogens and SARS-CoV-2 viruses based on rapid PCR or other isothermal amplification are discussed as well.

PCR已广泛应用于分子生物学、病原体检测、医学诊断、食品检测等不同领域。然而，PCR在现场即时检测中的推广难度体现在其速度、便利性、复杂性，甚至成本。随着微流体技术的不断发展，可以在微反应器中以更灵活的方式实现快速 PCR。PCR 在 SARS-CoV-2 的检测中起着关键作用。在COVID-19大流行的特殊背景下，本文重点介绍了最新的快速微流控PCR。快速PCR归结为两个主要特征，包括反应器（类型、尺寸、材料）和热循环的实施。尤其，基于（热循环时间）/（反应器大小）的系统比率探索了微流控 PCR 的速度和灵敏度之间的折衷。还讨论了基于快速 PCR 或其他等温扩增检测病原体和 SARS-CoV-2 病毒的代表性应用。