International Journal of Nanomedicine (Jul 2017)
Application of nanodiagnostics in point-of-care tests for infectious diseases
Abstract
Yongzhong Wang,1 Li Yu,2 Xiaowei Kong,1 Leming Sun3 1Anhui Key Laboratory of Modern Biomanufacturing, School of Life Sciences, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China, 2Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Anhui Provincial Laboratory of Microbiology and Parasitology, Anhui Key Laboratory of Zoonoses, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA Abstract: Although tremendous efforts have been put into the treatment of infectious diseases to prevent epidemics and mortality, it is still one of the major health care issues that have a profound impact on humankind. Therefore, the development of specific, sensitive, accurate, rapid, low-cost, and easy-to-use diagnostic tools is still in urgent demand. Nanodiagnostics, defined as the application of nanotechnology to medical diagnostics, can offer many unique opportunities for more successful and efficient diagnosis and treatment for infectious diseases. In this review, we provide an overview of the nanodiagnostics for infectious diseases from nanoparticle-based, nanodevice-based, and point-of-care test (POCT) platforms. Most importantly, emphasis focused on the recent trends in the nanotechnology-based POCT system. The current state-of-the-art and most promising point-of-care nanodiagnostic technologies, including miniaturized diagnostic magnetic resonance platform, magnetic barcode assay system, cell phone-based polarized light microscopy platform, cell phone-based dongle platform, and paper-based POCT platform, for infectious diseases were fully examined. The limitations, challenges, and future trends of the nanodiagnostics in POCTs for infectious diseases are also discussed. Keywords: nanodiagnostics, nanoparticles, nanodevices, point-of-care test, infectious diseases, pathogens
