Abstract Background All individuals should have equitable access to accurate and timely testing for infectious diseases, which underpins diagnosis treatment, safeguards blood supplies, is used determine disease prevalence. Disadvantaged populations limited laboratory-based testing, so near-patient or point-of-care (PoCT) has been developed implemented. Unlike PoCT often performed by non-laborat...

BACKGROUND External quality assurance (EQA) programmes, which are routinely used in laboratories, have not been widely implemented for point-of- care tests (POCTs). A study was performed in ten health centres in Tanzania, to implement the use of dried blood spots (DBS) as an EQA method for HIV and syphilis (POCTs). METHOD DBS samples were collected for retesting at a reference laboratory and ...

Updated cholesterol guidelines emphasize multivariable cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk estimation to guide treatment decision-making in primary prevention. This study tested the preliminary feasibility, acceptability and efficacy of point-of-care testing (POCT) and quantitative CVD risk assessment in high-risk adults to increase guideline-recommended statin use in primary prevention. Particip...

OBJECTIVES Lactate is a major parameter in medical decision making. During labor, it is an indicator for fetal acidosis and immediate intervention. In the Emergency Department (ED), rapid analysis of lactate/blood gas is crucial for optimal patient care. Our objectives were to cross-compare-for the first time-two point-of-care testing (POCT) lactate devices with routine laboratory results using...

Background and Objectives Most gastric cancer patients now undergo perioperative chemotherapy (POCT) based on the MAGIC trial results. POCT consists of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) as well as postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. This study assessed the applicability of perioperative chemotherapy and the impact of radical gastrectomy encompassing a detailed lymph-node resection on outcomes of...

Bacillus anthracis, Brucella spp., and Yersinia pestis are zoonotic pathogens and biowarfare- or bioterrorism-associated agents that must be detected rapidly on-site from various samples (e.g., viscera and powders). An up-converting phosphor technology-based lateral flow (UPT-LF) strip was developed as a point-of-care testing (POCT) to satisfy the requirements of first-level emergency response....

BACKGROUND Accreditation is a valuable resource for medical laboratories. The development of quality systems based on ISO 15189 has taken place in many laboratories in the European countries but data about accreditation remain scarce. The EFLM Working Group "Accreditation and ISO/CEN standards" conducted a survey that reviews the current state of the accreditation process in European countries....

This article reports a MEMS (Micro-ElectroMechanical-Systems)-based column separator designed for potential integration with portable medical point-of-care testing (POCT) devices. The MEMS column uses size exclusion chromatography (SEC) to pre-separate raw samples by size, and is made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) fabricated on a glass slide. The MEMS SEC column separates 300 ng/mL of beta-hum...

Although tremendous efforts have been put into the treatment of infectious diseases to prevent epidemics and mortality, it is still one of the major health care issues that have a profound impact on humankind. Therefore, the development of specific, sensitive, accurate, rapid, low-cost, and easy-to-use diagnostic tools is still in urgent demand. Nanodiagnostics, defined as the application of na...

1. Background, Motivation and Objective : Point of care testing (POCT) which is defined as diagnostic testing at or near the site of patient care has been required for future home healthcare. There are various important requirements for the biosensor platform for POCT, such as portable, cost per test, maximum achievable sensitivity and specificity, ease of use and wireless connectivity. 2. Stat...