title: Point-of-care oral-based diagnostics.
abstract: Many of the target molecules that reside in blood are also present in oral fluids, albeit at lower concentrations. Oral fluids are, however, relatively easy and safe to collect without the need for specialized equipment and training. Thus, oral fluids provide convenient samples for medical diagnostics. Recent advances in lab-on-a-chip technologies have made minute, fully integrated diagnostic systems practical for an assortment of point-of-care tests. Such systems can perform either immunoassays or molecular diagnostics outside centralized laboratories within time periods ranging from minutes to an hour. The article briefly reviews recent advances in devices for point-of-care testing with a focus on work that has been carried out by the authors as part of a NIH program.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6315, USA.
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Hart
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Mauk
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Malamud
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Abrams
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Bau
mesh_terms: D003945:Diagnosis, Oral / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005883:Gingival Crevicular Fluid / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay / Q000295:instrumentation; D056656:Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000295:instrumentation; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D013997:Time Factors