Point-of-care testing and molecular diagnostics: miniaturization required.
Turnaround time for molecular diagnostic tests is critical in detecting infectious agents, in determining a patient's ability to metabolize a drug or drug class, and in detecting minimal residual disease. These applications would benefit from the development of a point-of-care device for nucleic acid extraction, amplification, and detection. The ideal device would have a low cost per test, use a disposable unit use device for all steps in the assay, be portable, and provide a result that requires no interpretation. The creation of such a device requires miniaturization of current technologies and the use of microfluidics, microarrays, and small-diameter capillary tubes to reduce reagent volumes and simplify heat conduction by convection during nucleic acid amplification. This ideal device may be available in 3 to 5 years and will revolutionize and expand the global availability of molecular diagnostic assays.
Department of Pathology, Pathology Consultants of South Broward, LLP, Memorial Regional Hospital, Hollywood, FL 33021, USA. fkiechle@mhs.net
Frederick L
FL
Kiechle
Carol A
CA
Holland
D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000379:methods; D008904:Miniaturization / Q000379:methods*; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*