Point of care (PoC) diagnostics are at the focus of government initiatives, NGOs and fundamental research alike. In high-income countries, the hope is to streamline the diagnostic procedure, minimize costs and make healthcare processes more efficient and faster, which, in some cases, can be more a matter of convenience than necessity. However, in resource-limited settings such as low-income countries, PoC-diagnostics might be the only viable route, when the next laboratory is hours away. Therefore, it is especially important to focus research into novel diagnostics for these countries in order to alleviate suffering due to infectious disease. In this review, the current research describing the use of PoC diagnostics in resource-limited settings and the potential bottlenecks along the value chain that prevent their widespread application is summarized. To this end, we will look at literature that investigates different parts of the value chain, such as fundamental research and market economics, as well as actual use at healthcare providers. We aim to create an integrated picture of potential PoC barriers, from the first start of research at universities to patient treatment in the field. Results from the literature will be discussed with the aim to bring all important steps and aspects together in order to illustrate how effectively PoC is being used in low-income countries. In addition, we discuss what is needed to improve the situation further, in order to use this technology to its fullest advantage and avoid “leaks in the pipeline”, when a promising device fails to take the next step of the valorization pathway and is abandoned.
Glucose bio-sensing technologies have received increasing attention in the last few decades, primarily due to the fundamental role that glucose metabolism plays in diseases (e.g., diabetes). Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) could offer an alternative means of analysis to a field that is traditionally dominated by enzyme-based devices, posing superior chemical stability, cost-effectiveness, and ease of fabrication. Their integration into sensing devices as recognition elements has been extensively studied with different readout methods such as quartz-crystal microbalance or impedance spectroscopy. In this work, a dummy imprinting approach is introduced, describing the synthesis and optimization of a MIP toward the sensing of glucose. Integration of this polymer into a thermally conductive receptor layer was achieved by micro-contact deposition. In essence, the MIP particles are pressed into a polyvinyl chloride adhesive layer using a polydimethylsiloxane stamp. The prepared layer is then evaluated with the so-called heat-transfer method, allowing the determination of the specificity and the sensitivity of the receptor layer. Furthermore, the selectivity was assessed by analyzing the thermal response after infusion with increasing concentrations of different saccharide analogues in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). The obtained results show a linear range of the sensor of 0.0194–0.3300 mM for the detection of glucose in PBS. Finally, a potential application of the sensor was demonstrated by exposing the receptor layer to increasing concentrations of glucose in human urine samples, demonstrating a linear range of 0.0444–0.3300 mM. The results obtained in this paper highlight the applicability of the sensor both in terms of non-invasive glucose monitoring and for the analysis of food samples.
In this work, a novel detection assay for the new psychoactive substance (NPS) 2-methoxiphenidine (2-MXP) and other diarylethylamines is introduced. The assay is based on the competitive displacement of dye molecules from molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) by the target molecule. The assay was fully characterized by studying the affinity of the MIP for six common dyes, expressed as the binding factor (BF). The results of this study indicate that the mathematical relationship between the BF of a dye and the imprinting factor (IF) for the target could be used for the prediction of the efficacy of the displacement assay. Dye-loaded MIP particles where incubated with the target, two adulterants and two legal pharmacological compounds. The target has a higher affinity for the MIP than the dye and displaces it out of the nanocavities of the receptor leading to a colour change in the filtrate that can be observed with the naked eye. Incubation of the MIP particles with the adulterants and legal medicines did not result in any observable change in absorbance. The robust, fast and low-cost nature of the assay, combined with its tailorable selectivity and generic nature, illustrate its potential as a pre-screening tool for the identification of narcotic substances in unidentified powders.
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