Just a few years ago, the benefits of lateral flow diagnostic tests were not widely understood outside the scientific community.
The reason most people are exposed to this technology is through a home pregnancy test-it was originally the most widely used application.
Now, due to the Covid 19 pandemic, lateral movement is no longer unknown.As we can see Google Trends The word itself has entered the public consciousness.
This is because all over the world, governments, health authorities and even large organizations are using these tests to screen large numbers of people without Covid 19 symptoms.
A kind A recent study The performance of antigen lateral flow devices was studied in the UK and confirmed that they can be a powerful tool as part of a broader testing strategy.
The study found that the most sensitive lateral flow test detected 89.5% of cases leading to forward transmission.
European Union countries, including Austria, Germany, and Belgium, have purchased a large number of rapid antigen lateral flow tests for their populations, and Canada has recently launched a workplace screening program that uses these tests.
In the UK, the government has stated that it will use lateral flow tests for regular rapid tests. “basic” To help prevent future outbreaks.
Even Singapore, which has a strong testing program since the beginning of the pandemic, has recently incorporated rapid testing to speed up its contact tracing system.
So, where does the technology come from?
The government and others believe that regular horizontal flow testing is a way to get rid of this pandemic and return to normal, which is positive.
But now that the benefits of lateral flow are more widely recognized—especially its affordability, accuracy, and speed—test developers and manufacturers have a huge opportunity to really promote the wider adoption of the technology.
The challenge for test developers and manufacturers now is to keep sidestream testing in public awareness after the pandemic-it needs to be seen as This Mainstream methods for rapid large-scale testing of various infectious diseases, such as HIV, Ebola, malaria and Zika virus.
And warned that Covid will not be the last pandemic we have seen in our lives, and that horizontal mobility must continue to be seen as an important tool for future outbreaks.
But to become an effective tool for prevention purposes, the data that can be generated by horizontal flow testing needs to be collected on a large scale and shared easily and quickly.
How to transform the side stream with digitization
Introducing digital connectivity and data collection into lateral flow testing can significantly enhance its functionality.
Digital testing means that the results and related subject data are collected by a user-friendly mobile application, sent to the cloud and stored securely for future analysis. In this way, testing becomes an extremely powerful tool-recording results is easier and there is less room for human error.
On a global scale, governments and health institutions can use this type of system to monitor infectious diseases and identify outbreak hotspots, so that medical interventions can be carried out more accurately.
But the data collected may be more valuable, allowing a more detailed understanding of each tester’s situation-their age, gender, underlying disease and symptoms are all collected at the time of the test.
The application of lateral flow goes beyond disease testing
Infectious disease detection should not be seen as the only or in fact the main application-horizontal mobility can bring affordable diagnosis to a large number of people, opening up and democratizing health care around the world.
It can also be an important part of the recovery of our health system-a way to help alleviate the huge burden Covid has placed on medical facilities and their staff.
Horizontal mobility has the potential to give people access to a series of fast, affordable and accurate tests that they can perform at home to screen for various health conditions.
By doing so, we can reduce the number of patients who become patients and free up resources that can be used elsewhere in our health system.
Through digital connections and data collection, horizontal flow can become a part of daily life. In addition to home pregnancy and fertility tests, people can also test themselves for sexually transmitted diseases, high cholesterol levels, or heart markers that may indicate heart disease.
Using digital readers, such as mobile apps, they can collect this data and share it with their family doctor immediately.
Every home test can save public health money and enable people to control their health and well-being.
Horizontal flow will not only affect human health. The technology has been widely used to detect animal diseases-livestock and livestock-food safety-test food-borne pathogens and pollutants-and environmental testing-soil, water and air.
The diagnostic industry must actively respond
Therefore, it is clear that lateral flow will continue to exist. It has surpassed the home pregnancy test in the eyes of the public and has truly proven its value in the pandemic.
As an industry, we should seize this opportunity. If we want sidestream to continue to be seen by the government and the general public as an effective and affordable diagnostic solution, we must continue to innovate.
If we work together and share new ideas and technologies, we can make horizontal mobility a more valuable solution to future problems.
Photo: George Clerk, Getty Images
