Research Overview
This Frost & Sullivan research service titled Rapid Test Kits for Patient Diagnostics provides in-depth information about the various commercial products and technologies developed for rapid screening of various health conditions. These include infectious diseases such as metabolic disorders, and even pregnancy testing, drug abuse and heavy metal toxicity testing and genetic testing, and elated health complications. The study provides information on various products and technologies available in the market today and those on the verge of commercialization. The technologies covered include Microarrays, Biosensors, PCR/RT PCR, Immunoassays, and Lab-on-Chip tests.
Technologies
The following technologies are covered in this research:
- Microarray
- Bisensors
- Lab-on-chips
- Immunoassays
- PCR/RP-PCR
Technology Overview
Multiple Uses of Rapid Test Kits Boosts Potential
Rapid tests, otherwise called near-patient tests, are done at the site of an incident and in the presence of the patient. The doctor cannot take even the most critical decision about the appropriate therapy without the results of these tests. A rapid diagnostic test kit includes a wide variety of portable analytical devices such as dipsticks, microarrays, biosensors, microdevices, lab-on-chip (LOC) devices, microchips, or bioMEMS. "Rapid tests can monitor and screen for medical conditions and are rapidly being developed for use on a single-test basis," according to the analyst of the study. "They are showing promise as indispensable tools not only in medical laboratories for use by doctors and at-home self-testing for use by patients, but also in clinical research purposes for use by researchers."
Clinical applications for rapid tests include fertility tests, tests for tumor markers, toxicology tests—for drugs abuse, heavy metal poisoning tests, genetic testing, metabolic disease testing, testing for allergies, infectious disease testing, theranostics, and pharmacogenomics. Other uses of rapid tests include testing for biological and environmental contamination.
Newer Forms of Diseases Increase Need for Rapid Test Kits
The growing number of infective agents, their dynamic genetic nature, the absence of specific and efficient treatments for several viral and bacterial diseases, and genetic diseases such as cancer has created the need of rapid identification and diagnosis. Moreover, in the recent years, molecular diagnostic techniques have been the ongoing focus of researchers and there have been noteworthy developments in these diagnostics that have brought about new developments in healthcare. Starting from the detection of infectious organisms, diagnosis of metabolic and genetic diseases such as cancer and diabetes, sophisticated modern technologies have resulted in highly sensitive and specific tests that can produce rapid and at the point-of-care and real-time results for the patients.
The commercial diagnostic assay that was introduced in the market for the first time was based on the non-amplified detection of ribosomal RNA (rRNA), the abundantly found genetic material in bacteria. These nucleic acid technologies applied for the detection of pathogens such as viruses and bacteria are now coupled with newly designed assays for the detection of novel biological markers associated with various types of cancer and autoimmune diseases. "In many instances, the developmental trend will continue to be combining robust chemical or biochemical assays with sophisticated hardware and software to bring about automated, high throughput and rapid testing methodologies at the point-of-care use," explains the analyst. "In the future, less laborious rapid testing which can give accurate and comparable results could potentially replace conventional testing or may even become a mandatory adjunct to conventional tests."
