title: Point-of-care molecular diagnostic systems--past, present and future.
abstract: The field of molecular diagnostics has greatly decreased the time it takes to identify infectious agents and to test their antimicrobial resistance. Portable devices are currently in development that can easily identify a variety of nucleic acid targets (either DNA or RNA) from multiple sample types in under an hour. This is done by a variety of methods including real-time polymerase chain reaction, probe-based assays, bioluminescence real-time amplification, and microarray or micro-pump technologies. These self-contained systems require only minimal training and perform all steps of the assay from extraction through detection with little or no operator intervention.
authors.affiliation: William Beaumont Hospital, Department of Clinical Pathology, Royal Oak, MI 48073-6769, USA. cholland@beaumont.edu
authors.forename: Carol A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Holland
authors.forename: Frederick L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Kiechle
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007239:Infections / Q000175:diagnosis; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D009696:Nucleic Acids / Q000032:analysis; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D011506:Proteins / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D009696:Nucleic Acids; D011506:Proteins