The Point of Care (POC)
testing was firstly introduced with the
development of a method for rapid analysis of
blood glucose in year 1962 and shortly
after in 1977, rapid pregnancy test
was developed that pioneered a trend for
personalized diagnostics. The current trend in
POCD (Point-of-care diagnostics) is more
inclined towards smart devices equipped with
mobile healthcare (mH), the most promising
being cellphone-based POC technologies for
the readout of electrochemical, optical,
colorimetric, chemiluminescent, fluorescent,
lateral flow, & label-free assays;
detection of cells, biomolecules, nanoparticles,
and microorganisms etc. This very
combination is truly revolutionizing the
personalized healthcare monitoring and
management, thereby leading towards next
generation POCT. Further, the use of
wearable devices for point of care
diagnostics has come up as a valid support for
diagnostic excellence by providing more
effective solutions through testing, tracking,
and tracing (TTT) strategies. Though many
wearables are in prototype, still their
non-invasive, relatively low cost, easy to use,
wide market availability and their long-term
continuous data collection enabled by the
advancement in Internet of Things (IoT)
integration involving sensors and user-friendly
interfaces to provide a feedback loop of various
data, are the keys to its success.
As known, in spite of three
tier well networked health care system in India,
access to healthcare in rural areas is far from
satisfactory. Integration of POCT
(Point-of-care testing) into the healthcare
system to provide laboratory testing outside of
the main laboratory has tendency to transform the
delivery of care with innovative diagnostic
solutions, especially in underserved
populations, rural areas, and locations with
limited infrastructure or personnel (e. g.
disaster, accident, or military
sites). Besides having extended testing
capabilities, this system of testing is also
advantageous in the terms of its efficiency,
speed, sample stability, ease of handling,
portability, lean process & thus overall improved
patient’s management. Especially after the onset
of Covid-19 pandemic, telemedicine &
e-health have been playing pivotal role in
healthcare systems, providing safe & effective
means of patient care. This has created vast
opportunities for entrepreneurs & start-ups
for various types of technologies, products &
solutions to make it suitable for local users. |
Stimulus Package to Support
Health Technology Start-Ups
Realizing the same,
for fast growth of medical device manufacturing,
Indian government is also easing the
regulatory process for mass testing and production
to push the start-ups and SMEs to
develop medical devices to tackle the pandemic and
other lifestyle and chronic diseases. The new
Medical Devices Bill (Safety, Effectiveness &
Innovation) will improve the ease of doing
business. Jointly the Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare with Niti Aayog has
framed a separate regulatory body for medical
devices sold in the Indian markets. Another
important support includes accessibility of the
country’s top technical institutes such as the
Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT), Indian Institute of Science (IISc)
and others laboratories, to help set benchmarks
and safety guidelines for providing certifications
to medical devices, also helping the startups &
innovators to shape ideas, prototype, capital
& networking to scale up products. Opening of
multiple Medical Park & Innovation Labs are
also in the agenda. Under ‘Vocal for Local’
initiative as a measure to promote the
manufacturing of medical devices locally, PM
has announced the INR 20 Cr
stimulus package to support health
technology start-ups in developing scientific and
commercial solutions.
POCT Device Format
The POCT
device format can be categorized – disposables,
handheld, benchtop, portable, transportable,
monitoring etc. In the present article an
attempt has been made to have the insights of
tremendous opportunities & trends in Point of
Care testing in future, by highlighting the
products of a few of companies & their associated
technology.
Disposables
Pune based Mylab
Discovery Solutions has launched the Eye-
Catching Product of the pandemic, CoviSelf
- antigen based self-test for Covid 19, after
receiving approval from |