Point of care (POC) diagnostic devices are used to acquire particular clinical information of patients in clinical as well as resource-limited settings. These devices are widely used to obtain diagnostic results. POC diagnostics include sample testing to facilitate rapid diagnosis and help decide the treatment plan accordingly. Infectious diseases often need to be diagnosed early, as they can be fatal to the immune system. POC diagnostics allows early detection of diseases and can impact the medical outcome of treatment of the disease. Moreover, it is cost-efficient and time-saving, as well as offers various benefits such as can be performed easily, prevent sample spillage, no necessity of skilled professionals, etc.
Point of care (POC) diagnostic devices are used for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and medical conditions in nursing and other health care settings. These devices are also referred to as laboratory devices or clinical analyzers. A POC instrument is designed to provide results in real-time. As such, they are valuable for urgent care, pre-surgical and post-operative care, patient management and intervention, and other on-site or in-patient services. The information provided by a POC diagnostic device can be read by clinicians in the operating room, treatment area, recovery room, or laboratory. Moreover, POC diagnostics help ensure patients receive the most efficient and effective care when and where it is needed.
A wide variety of point of care (POC) diagnostic devices is available in the market. These can be used in conjunction with other glucose monitoring tools such as an automated testing system or an infusion system for administering medication. These products are readily available to healthcare providers in developing countries where the cost of healthcare is often very low. However, they are expensive in developed countries where healthcare systems are often very advanced and have a range of technologically advanced diagnostic tools. However, improper use of POC devices can also lead to inaccurate readings or even the false-positive diagnosis of certain life-threatening diseases, such as HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria... Read more