Digital Lateral Flow Testing and Possible Applications

Lateral flow tests (LFTs), also known as lateral flow assays or rapid tests, are currently widely used in medical diagnostics due to simplicity of this technology and the fact that LFTs don’t require complex and expensive equipment. Today, with a new generation of connected smart devices, this technology gets even more accessible, and the number of its applications in various fields of healthcare and beyond is growing rapidly. 

What is lateral flow testing? 

Lateral flow tests are designed to analyze various body fluids in order to detect the presence of target substances in these samples automatically, without the need to use complex laboratory equipment and trained staff.  

Most LFTs operate in the following way: a liquid body fluid sample runs along the surface of a pad with reactive molecules that make the pad show a visual result (either negative or positive). The pads are made of a series of paper and polymer-based capillary beds that are able to transport fluid. They act as a sponge and hold fluid, which then moves to the second conjugate pad, which contains the reagents required for the chemical reaction between the targeted molecule and its antibodies to take place. 

The reaction produces particles that pass through the pad and end up on the test and control lines for the LFT. The test line shows a signal, typically colored, to specify the result of the testing. Home pregnancy tests would be a good example of such an LFT, where the reactive molecules are targeted to detect a certain hormone, and the result is shown in the form of colored lines.

This technology makes it possible to produce simple, cheap and very effective test devices that are able to show results within a 5 to 15 minute time frame, which is much faster compared to other medical testing methods, which often take days to get the results.

Lateral flow tests production and usage is on the rise 

For the reasons stated above, such as simplicity, affordability, and flexibility (LFTs can be utilized to diagnose various diseases and used in other fields beyond medical diagnostics), the adoption of lateral flow tests is growing globally, and rather quickly. 

According to a new report by ResearchAndMarkets.com, the global lateral flow tests market is projected to reach US$10,2 bn by 2025 from US$8,2 bn in 2020, at a CAGR of 4.5% during the forecast period. Growing prevalence of infectious diseases globally, increasing aging population, growing demand for point-of-care and home-based LFT devices, and increasing demand in food and environment safety and veterinary diagnostics industry are the major factors driving the growth of this market, researchers found. 

Today lateral flow tests are widely used to conduct rapid COVID-19 testing as they are capable of detecting even people with COVID-19 who are not showing symptoms.

The technological development is another major reason why LFTs are growing in popularity. 

Digital lateral flow tester by Tauro Technologies 

At Tauro Technologies, we enhanced lateral flow testing technology with the power of modern-day IoT solutions by creating a smart lateral flow tester able to detect various diseases with high accuracy.  

Available at a retail price as low as $10, our digital tester can be integrated with any lateral flow test assay, automating lateral flow testing and reporting the test results. The test is augmented with a mobile application and cloud based data management enabling seamless and secure reporting of the test results with public institutions and hospitals. Rapid test results combined with digital monitoring enable institutions to rapidly respond to health crisis such as pandemics.  

Digital lateral flow test devices by Tauro Technologies can house any type of any fluid-based (saliva or other body fluids such as urine and blood) lateral flow test assay which makes it a universal solution for turning a regular lateral flow test into a cloud-connected solution. It takes 5 to 15 minutes for the test to show the result, making it a desirable and easy to implement solution for various kinds of medical testing, such as COVID-19 tests. 

As LFT is a flexible and universal technology, our digital lateral flow testing devices can be custom designed to be a perfect fit for application specific deployments in different fields. 

Common applications of lateral flow testing

Lateral flow tests usage is broadly segmented across several fields, with new application areas being added to this list on a regular basis as LFTs are able to handle a wide variety of samples and perform many sample-handling tasks, such as filtration, concentration, and removal of cross-reactive elements.

These are the most common application areas for lateral flow testing devices today. 

• Medical diagnostics; 

• Clinical testing;

• Drug development & quality testing;

• Veterinary diagnostics;

• Food safety & environment testing.

Naturally, LFTs applications in medical fields are the most common, and are normally divided into market segments based on the type of sample fluids they are designed to test (blood, urine, saliva, and other samples).

But today other fields and industries are also increasingly adopting this new technology. According to ResearchAndMarkets’ LFT market analysis, the food safety and environment testing segment of this market is projected to grow at the highest rate in the next five years. This is due to the fact that LFTs are emerging as simple and rapid alternatives to traditional methods for the detection of foodborne pathogens and contaminants. 

In case of environment testing, LFTs are finding wide applications due to their ability to handle a wide variety of environment-related samples, detecting different kinds of substances, such as industrial waste elements or toxic substances in water.

Summary 

As the lateral flow testing technology is gaining adoption across different industries and is getting increasingly utilized to serve various purposes, it is important to make sure that all the advantages and capabilities of this technology are supported, and empowered, by the hardware, which has to be not just consistently accurate and reliable, but also affordable. 

We believe that Tauro Technologies has developed such an LFT device. Our digital lateral flow tester, supported by a powerful mobile app, can be adopted to a variety of applications in various fields, being used to perform highly accurate tests at low costs. Get in touch for further information.