Phase II proof-of-concept (POC) trials play a key role in oncology drug development, determining which therapeutic hypotheses will undergo definitive phase III testing according to predefined Go-No Go (GNG) criteria. The number of possible POC hypotheses likely far exceeds available public or private resources. We propose a design strategy for maximizing return on socioeconomic investment in ph...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES To determine whether point-of-care (POC) International Normalized Ratio (INR) test results correlate with plasma INR measures in intermittent hemodialysis (IHD) patients on warfarin. Anemia is thought to reduce the accuracy of POC INR assay results. Whether POC INR testing could be implemented for hemodialysis patients on chronic warfarin, who are often anemic despite ...

BACKGROUND The predominant hCG variant in urine, hCG β core fragment (hCGβcf), has been demonstrated to cause false-negative results in qualitative point-of-care (POC) hCG devices. This is a major concern for healthcare professionals using POC pregnancy tests. We developed a screening method to evaluate qualitative POC hCG devices for their susceptibility to inhibition by hCGβcf. Using this met...

Sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for 70% of the 35 million people living with HIV worldwide, obviously carries the heaviest burden of the HIV epidemic. Moreover, the region's poor health system occasioned by limited resources and inadequate skilled clinical personnel usually makes decentralization of HIV care difficult. Therefore, quality diagnostics that are easy to use, inexpensive, and amenabl...

In this study, we sought to develop strategies for improved endothelialization of a new polymer coating for vascular stents. Surface enhancement of the new poly-1,8-octanediol-co-citric acid (POC) polymer was achieved through conjugation of anti-CD34 antibody and incorporation of vascular endothelial growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor-containing poly-lactic-co-glycolic acid microp...

Point of care (POC, or near patient) testing for measurement of the international normalized ratio (INR) has facilitated the devolution of service delivery from the traditional hospital outpatient setting. However it must be undertaken within the confines of safe practice involving quality control procedures. The evaluation of INR POC tests should be closely related to the clinical issues of ma...

The Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) is defining the Push-to-talk over Cellular (PoC) service where SIP is the protocol used to establish half-duplex media sessions across different participants, to send instant messages, etc. This document defines a SIP event package to support publication, subscription, and notification of additional capabilities required by the PoC service. This SIP event package ...

BACKGROUND General practitioners can safely exclude pulmonary embolism (PE) by using the Wells PE rule combined with D-dimer testing. OBJECTIVE To compare the accuracy of a strategy using the Wells rule combined with either a qualitative point-of-care (POC) D-dimer test performed in primary care or a quantitative laboratory-based D-dimer test. METHODS We used data from a prospective cohort ...

BACKGROUND Early infant HIV diagnosis (EID) coverage and uptake remains challenging. Point-of-care (POC) testing may improve access and turn-around-times, but, while several POC technologies are in development there are few data on their implementation in the field. METHODS We conducted an implementation study of the Alere q Detect POC system for EID at two public sector health facilities in ...

BACKGROUND The added value of using a point-of-care (POC) troponin test in primary care to rule out acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is debated because test sensitivity is inadequate early after symptom onset. This study investigates the potential cost-utility of diagnosing ACS by a general practitioner (GP) when a POC troponin test is available versus GP assessment only. METHODS A patient-level...