Laser‐Microscribed Glass Enables Surface‐Microfluidics‐Facilitated, Affordable, Rapid Cancer Diagnosis

Glass is an ideal substrate for lab‐on‐chip devices due to its superior optical clarity, biocompatibility, and mechanical durability, overcoming the limitations of conventional substrate materials like PDMS and paper. However, current surface modification methods for glass‐based devices either lack scalability or fail to provide precise control over surface morphology. Herein, a scalable laser‐ablation methodology is developed, enabling precise fabrication and spatial distribution of glass‐surface microtexture, while maintaining substrate transparency. This approach produces transparent wettability patterns on glass, facilitating efficient, targeted, and pumpless liquid manipulation by surface microfluidics. The methodology is implemented to develop a cost‐effective cancer diagnostic device, which is implemented to detect Glioblastoma (grade‐IV astrocytoma), an aggressive brain cancer. The device delivers results within 1 h, demonstrates a remarkable diagnostic specificity, and shows an efficiency of ≈80% in identifying live Glioblastoma cells. The present advancement holds promise for improving healthcare accessibility and affordability on a global scale. The methodology establishes a foundation for scalable, glass‐based lab‐on‐chip platforms with the potential to revolutionize cancer and other disease diagnosis with enhanced patient outcomes. Beyond healthcare, the transparent wettability‐patterning technique presented here has broader applications, including solar stills, self‐cleaning and anti‐icing surfaces, as well as solar panels, further amplifying its potential impact.