Point-of-care testing (POCT) is in the fact laboratory testing provided near the site of patient care or directly in this place. POCT includes in the present time bedside testing, near-patient testing, physicians ́ office testing, extra-laboratory testing, decentralized testing, off-site, ancillary, and alternative testing, and, of course, point-of-care testing. Laboratorian and clinical staff o...

This paper reports the development of a new rapidly reconfigurable, universal Point-of-Care Test (POCT) system based on Siloam’s Optimiser microfluidic platform technology. The key benefit of this system is the ability to develop/validate assays using conventional lab-automation tools and rapidly adopting new assays for POCT use. A wide-dynamic range beta-HCG (total) 15 minute assay with operat...

BACKGROUND Many medical laboratory tests can now be done near the patient (point-of-care testing, POCT), ranging from basic blood glucose measurement to complex coagulation testing. Switching from conventional laboratory testing to POCT shortens the time to decision-making about further testing or treatment, as delays are no longer caused by specimen transport and preparation, and the test resu...

Point-of-care testing (POCT) represents one of the fastest growing segments of the diagnostics market. Although major advances have been made in the instrumentation and methods used for POCT, further development and enhancements appear to be necessary to meet the challenges presented by the difficult testing environments in which these devices are used. In addition, the varied experience and tr...

Does the faster turnaround time for point-of-care testing (POCT) lead to better outcomes? Do the benefits justify the usually higher reagent costs and the expense and complexity of regulatory compliance? The answer, after 20 years of investigation, is an unequivocal " It depends. " It depends on the analyte and the testing device, on the reasons for testing, and on the setting of the testing, a...

Rapid point-of-care testing (POCT) for blood gas analysis, glucose, electrolytes, prothrombin time and other parameters including cardiac biomarkers has been available for a long time and has now become a rather ordinary diagnostic tool worldwide. By nature, POCT is a disruptive solution since it permits the rapid delivery of laboratory information at the point of need, using small amounts of s...

OBJECTIVE Various point-of-care testing (POCT) urine analysers are commercially available for routine urine analysis in general practice. The present study compares analytical performance, agreement and user-friendliness of six different POCT urine analysers for diagnosing urinary tract infection in general practice. SETTING All testing procedures were performed at a diagnostic centre for pri...

BACKGROUND In Liverpool, injecting drug users (IDUs), men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) and UK Africans experience a disproportionate burden of HIV, yet services do not reach out to these groups and late presentations continue. We set out to: increase testing uptake in targeted marginalized groups through a community and genitourinary medicine (GUM)-based point of care testing (POCT) programme; a...

BACKGROUND D-dimer is used widely as a diagnostic aid in low- and moderate-risk patients with suspected venous thromboembolism (VTE). While our laboratory utilizes VIDAS D-dimer analyzer (bioMérieux SA, France), our emergency department (ED) recently procured a D-dimer analyzer AQT90 FLEX (Radiometer Medical ApS, Denmark) for point of care testing (POCT) to facilitate patient management. We aim...

BACKGROUND Time is a crucial factor in an emergency department and the effectiveness of diagnosing depends on, among other things, the accessibility of rapid reported laboratory test results; i.e.: a short turnaround time (TAT). Former studies have shown a reduced time to action when point of care technologies (POCT) are used in emergency departments. This study assesses the hypothesis, that us...