Recent Advances in Point of Care Diagnostic Tools: A Review
Journal Title: American Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Year 2016, Vol 9, Issue 4
Abstract
Abstract Globally, there is a great need for portable, inexpensive diagnostic tools that can provide quick, accurate results using relatively small sample volumes. Point-Of-Care (POC) measurements of human saliva, sweat and/or blood capable of detecting glucose levels, foreign pathogens such as bacteria, fungi and many different viruses (HIV, Ebola, Influenza, etc.) that use microfluidics and optofluidics are close to commercial availability. These diagnostic tools use both optical and electrical methods for the detection and analysis of single biomolecules. The applications extend beyond healthcare and can be used for pathogen detection in aquatic environments such as drinking water. Additional research in handheld Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) offers the possibility for inexpensive diagnosis and treatment of tissue like middle ear infection and breast cancer. Finally, microscopes are also getting smaller and cheaper, with an inexpensive plastic florescence microscope that can quantify white blood cell levels and a suitcase sized microscope that can look at a single drop of blood for a million biomarkers, searching for signs of sepsis and infectious disease. POC devices such as these will provide medical care to poor, remote areas that can be administered by junior physicians or even used for self-diagnosis. In this study, a review of advances in POC devices reported in recent literature is conducted, in order to provide the reader with a thorough description of new diagnostic techniques that have taken place in the last couple of years. Copyright © 2016 Laura Wessels and Haider Raad. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Authors and Affiliations
Laura Wessels, Haider Raad
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP202370
- DOI 10.3844/ajeassp.2016.1088.1095
- Views 94
- Downloads 0
Investigating the Dynamic Thermal Behavior of Building Envelope in Summer Conditions By Means of in-Field Continuous Monitoring
Abstract The effect of dynamic properties of building opaque envelope in summer conditions is investigated by means of an extensive continuous monitoring of a dedicated experimental field. Two test-buildings, a weather...
Near Critical Carbon Dioxide Sorption Induced Crystallization in PET
Abstract Near critical carbon dioxide sorption equilibria at 50°C and pressures up to 40 atms are analyzed and interpreted on the basis of the multiple sorption mechanisms possible in a glassy amorphous and semi crystal...
Evaluation and Sociolinguistic Analysis of Text Features for Gender and Age Identification
Abstract The paper presents an interdisciplinary study in the field of automatic gender and age identification, under the scope of sociolinguistic knowledge on gendered and age linguistic choices that social media users...
Efficient Co-Rotational 3-Node Shell Element
Efficient Co-Rotational 3-Node Shell Element Gil Rama, Dragan Marinkovic and Manfred Zehn DOI : 10.3844/ajeassp.2016.420.431 American Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences Volume 9, Issue 2 Pages 420-431 Abstr...
Pressure Ulcer Prevention: Optimizing a Temporally Redistributing Support Interface
Abstract One of the most common complications from long-term wheelchair use or bed rest is pressure ulcers. Pressure ulcers have significant morbidity and are associated with high mortality. Prolonged sitting can cause...