In vitro Diagnosis in SR BIOERA

Abstract

In vitro diagnostics are tests done on samples such as blood or tissue that have been taken from the human body.In vitro diagnosis can detect diseases or other conditions, and can be used to monitor a person’s overall health to help cure, treat, or prevent diseases.Lateral flow assays (LFAs) are the technology behind low-cost, simple, rapid and portable detection devices popular in biomedicine, agriculture, food and environmental sciences. This review presents an overview of the principle of the method and the critical components of the assay, focusing on lateral flow immunoassays. This type of assay has recently attracted considerable interest because of its potential to provide instantaneous diagnosis directly to patients. The range and interpretation of results and parameters used for evaluation of the assay will also be discussed. Finally, the major recent advances and future diagnostic applications in the LFA field will be explored.The lateral flow assay (LFA) is a paper-based platform for the detection and quantification of analytes in complex mixtures, where the sample is placed on a test device and the results are displayed within 5–30 min. Low development costs and ease of production of LFAs have resulted in the expansion of its applications to multiple fields in which rapid tests are required. LFA-based tests are widely used in hospitals, physician's offices and clinical laboratories for the qualitative and quantitative detection of specific antigens and antibodies. A variety of biological samples can be tested using LFAs, including urine, saliva, sweat, serum, plasma, whole blood and other fluids. Further industries in which LFA-based tests are employed include veterinary medicine, quality control, product safety in food production, and environmental health and safety. In these areas of utilization, rapid tests are used to screen for animal diseases, pathogens, chemicals, toxins and water pollutants, among others.