Point-of-care testing of infectious diseases: recent advances

Infectious diseases have seriously threatened human health and caused enormous losses to the global economy. Rapid and accurate diagnosis of pathogens is crucial to the timely treatment of patients, improvement of their prognosis, and containment of disease transmission. The conventional methods for detecting pathogens are usually performed in well-equipped clinical laboratories that rely on sophisticated equipment and well-trained personnel. In addition, a series of pre-analytical procedures, such as long transport time, may bias test results and delay turnaround times (TAT), which are particularly detrimental to infectious disease control in resource-constrained areas. Advances in multidisciplinary technologies, shifts in health management models, and increased awareness of disease prevention have considerably driven the development of the point-of-care testing (POCT) market. Many portable, low-cost, and rapid POCT devices have been designed to promote health management, control disease spread, and improve patients' prognosis. This review focuses on a comprehensive summary of recently developed POCT methods for infectious diseases such as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), Zika virus disease, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Ebola virus disease (EVD), and malaria, highlights the utilization of different POCT devices in these diseases and reflects on the potential value of the internet of medical things (IoMT), big data, and artificial intelligence (AI) in the next-generation smart POCT. Finally, future perspectives, discussion and conclusions on detecting infectious diseases with POCT devices are listed. Next-generation POCT devices for infectious diseases will improve disease management.