Consumers Flashcards
What is 2 components of personalised medicine
Coupling established clinical-pathological indeces (signs/symptoms/imaging/biochemistry)
With
Molecular profiling
(profiling genes, cellular metabolism, protein signalling, disturbances in homeostasis)
How does POC testing help achieve personalised medicine
Diagnosis is quick and timely - no matter the setting to enable quicker point of care diagnosis
What is the generic standard care
Diagnostic triage - signs/symptoms/history
Treatment - generic guidance e.g. infectious diseases = broad spectrum antibiotic effective against gram negative bacteria
Patient monitoring,diagnostic confirmatory tests etc.
What is the INNOVA
Antigen test used to detect SARS-COV-2
What drives and enables the use of point of care testing to achieve personalised care
Drives
Clinical need
Utility - to change outcomes, reduced epidemiological burden
Enables
Technology - microfluidics and miniaturisation for rapid testing
Wireless communications
What are the requirements for a point of care test
Low cost or high return (cost effectiveness)
Rapid
Clear diagnostic threshold
Actionable
Simple
Match the gold standard
What are the 4 measurements of a good assay
If you give a group of just + or - how many people can they actually detect
Sensitivity (true positive rate)
Specificity (true negative rate)
Positive predictive value (PPV) - true positives divided by all positives found
Negative predictive value (NPV) - true negatives divided by all negatives
These are both linked to prevalence
As prevalence creases PPV decreases (more false positives) but NPV increases
What are some examples of point of care tests
Cholesterol finger prick
UTI’s and urinary dip stick
Lateral flow devices including COVID and pregnancy tests
What are nucleic acid amplification tests
PCR is one technique
The tests combine processing and testing in a single cartridge
Describe the use of the urinary dipstick
Urinary dip stick - performed In the home, primary and secondary care setting
Typically several tests are performed on one stick detecting multiple analytes
For example glucose, protein, blood, nitrite, and leukocyte esterase etc.
Commonly used to determine :
Bacteriuria – bacterial presence in the urine or
Pyruria – abnormal white cell presence in urine
Why does the urinary dipstick measure multiple things and why is this beneficial
Individually blood, nitrite, and leukocyte esterase have sensitivity from 23% up to 64% although the blood test on its own isn’t diagnostic of only bacterial infection
Any two of these combined then has a sensitivity of 74% providing greater diagnostic value
Determine between differential diagnoses
Describe lateral flow devices
Device used anywhere
Compatible with multiple analyte types e.g. antigens or antibodies
These analytes are carried through a membrane by a buffered solution via capillary action
These combine with labelled molecules and capture molecules (antibodies)
Concentration of the labels give rise to colour
Describe how the INNOVA device works
It is a lateral flow device where the sample is applied to the buffered solution which is wicked by capillary action
It flows over pads which capture and label the molecules e.g. by colloid gold
The reactants disolve so only labelled analyte is left, and additional molecules bind the control and test bringing a rise to colour in the test sample
What are the positives of INNOVA lateral flow testing
It’s cheap, easy to develop and mass produce
It’s simple and easy to use avoiding user errors
What are the disadvantages of INNOVA lateral flow testing
Lower sensitivity especially at lower viral loads typified by asymptomatic individuals
LFTs generally have limited applications because of the sensitivity and type analytes they can detect
What are the analytes of lateral flow tests
Antibodies, antigens and, uncommonly, nucleic acids
What mechanism is lateral flow nucleic acid tests based on
Complementarity of nucleic acid sequences
Hybridisation and detection of a captured duplex molecules
Hybridisation also allows for some amplification of the signal but not through amplification of the target molecule so sensitivity still does not match NAATs
What do HIV seroconversion lateral flow tests test for
Example = BioSURE
Tests for HIV antibody
What technologies facilitate advances in rapid point of care testing
Smart materials - nanomaterials, nanowires, paramagnetic beads
Miniaturisation -microfluidics and microelectronic machines (MEMs)
Microelectronic detection - electrochemical and fluorescent detectors
Disposable cartridges - facilitates modular assay design
Low power requirement
Smart devices/wireless
What does the GeneXpert do
This desk top system has off the shelf real-time PCR assays
Its capable of performing
Detection – presence or absence?
Quantification – measuring bacterial or viral load?
Variant detection –predicting antibiotic resistance?
What instruments are in the GeneXpert
The instrument comprises of simple microfluidic cartridge allows non-expert handling and containment
Modular system offers flexibility , extensibility
Each cartridge processes a different assay and sample
What are the benefits of GeneXpert
Sample processing integrated within the cartridge making it useable for non-expert operators
The small reaction volumes provide speed and While-U-Wait processing of less than 90min
The connectivity and user interface enables and easy to understand and actionable results
What is the bink IO system for STI’s
Similar to GeneXpert also based on microfluidic cartridges
It can perform 24 NAATs on a single sample - saves time and repeat sample collection
How does the binx IO system work in contrast to the GeneXpert system
• It uses microelectronic detection rather than traditional fluorescent detection like the cephid
Give some examples of direct to consumer testing companies
DNA testing - these include 23 and Me, AncestryDNA
What is genetic testing
Determining which variant, or variants, a person has
Giving advice on the basis of what the current state of knowledge is about those variants
Brings about ethical issues, and what it may mean to someone without a genetics BG