Point-of-Care Diagnostics for Farm Animal Diseases: From Biosensors to Integrated Lab-on-Chip Devices

Abstract

Zoonoses and animal diseases threaten human health and livestock biosecurity and productivity. Currently, laboratory confirmation of animal disease outbreaks requires centralized laboratories and trained personnel; it is expensive and time-consuming, and it often does not coincide with the onset or progress of diseases. Point-of-care (POC) diagnostics are rapid, simple, and cost-effective devices and tests, that can be directly applied on field for the detection of animal pathogens. The development of POC diagnostics for use in human medicine has displayed remarkable progress. Nevertheless, animal POC testing has not yet unfolded its full potential. POC devices and tests for animal diseases face many challenges, such as insufficient validation, simplicity, and portability. Emerging technologies and advanced materials are expected to overcome some of these challenges and could popularize animal POC testing. This review aims to: (i) present the main concepts and formats of POC devices and tests, such as lateral flow assays and lab-on-chip devices; (ii) summarize the mode of operation and recent advances in biosensor and POC devices for the detection of farm animal diseases; (iii) present some of the regulatory aspects of POC commercialization in the EU, USA, and Japan; and (iv) summarize the challenges and future perspectives of animal POC testing.

Research progress of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 on aerosol collection and detection

“…Because of the rapid spread of the epidemic, researchers have proposed the use of an integrated extraction and detection test. The common integrated detection technologies include lateral flow fixation technology [135] , cartridge-based detection technology, and microfluidic-based detection technology [136] . The contents of integrated detection technology are summarized in Supporting information.…”

Point-of-care testing in companion and food animal disease diagnostics

“…The earliest antigen based POCT in animal disease diagnostic was the antigen detection assay developed for canine dirofilariasis in 1983-84 period (6)(7)(8). This paved the way for additional POCTs that utilized either antigen capture or antibody detection methods in companion animals (6).…”

Multiplex Detection of Infectious Diseases on Microfluidic Platforms

“…Recently, microfluidics has been highlighted and extensively researched due to its outstanding advantages, such as fast operation (less than 1 h), low reagent volume (microliter or even nanoliter), and high integration capability (integration of sample preparation, detection, and analysis into the platform) [ 17 ]. In addition, the characteristics of microfluidic platforms are well-suited for multiplex detection [ 14 , 18 ].…”