Point-of-Care Molecular COVID Testing: Understanding the Benefits

Since early 2020, the concept of diagnostic testing has become a prime focal point for the attention of people around the world. Putting diagnostic testing at the forefront of conversations about COVID helped to educate the general public to repeatedly test for COVID, giving healthcare providers a better idea of the severity of the virus. While the worst of COVID-19 is certainly behind us, it’s important to stay vigilant on testing to track the spread and surges.

Point-of-care (POC) testing is a great way to continue to help improve patient outcomes. POC testing is a diagnostic test performed outside the laboratory where the patient visit is occurring, that produces a rapid reliable result, aiding in identifying or managing some acute infections. This type of testing often happens on disposable test sticks/cassettes or compact, automated instruments with consumable cartridges that are designed to test for a specific pathogen or measure a particular metabolic level.¹

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POCT provides rapid turnaround of test results with the potential to generate a result quickly so that appropriate treatment can be implemented immediately. Technological advances, such as miniaturization of electronics and improved instrumentation, have revolutionized POCT, enabling the development of smaller and more accurate devices.²

In this blog, we will take a deep dive into the technology behind these tests, their accuracy and efficiency, as well as their impact on patient care and healthcare systems.

What is Molecular COVID-19 Testing?

Molecular COVID-19 tests are designed to look for genetic material from the COVID-19 virus. A common type of molecular test is the polymerase chain reaction tests (PCR tests), which are more accurate than antigen tests, the other type of COVID-19 test. PCR tests can be done at home but are generally more likely to be done by a healthcare professional and processed in a lab.

Genetic material is isolated from your test sample and then copied many times to conduct the test. That genetic material can be analyzed for SARS-CoV-2, and even small amounts can be detected because of the copying process. Because nucleic acids are the genetic material that molecular tests analyze, the technical name for this kind of molecular testing is the nucleic acid amplification test.³

What are the Benefits?

There are many benefits to implementing POC testing for your patient care. Results from POC diagnostics are delivered quickly, requiring minimal training to run the instrument and collect the sample. In some cases, patients can even collect the samples themselves. Most commonly, point-of-care testing is used in hospitals, clinics, and doctors’ offices when quick diagnosis is desirable or critical to the care plan.^4,5

In addition to getting fast results, POC testing also achieves significant cost-efficiencies for patients and providers by streamlining workflows and improving resource allocation across the health journey. These tests are specifically calibrated to work on smaller samples than are needed for lab tests, which can directly improve the patient's experience.^4,5

The SEKISUI Diagnostics solution

SEKISUI Diagnostics offers a molecular platform called Metrix^®, which is designed to be a significant leap forward in POC diagnostic technology. Through the combination of the speed and reliability of advanced molecular testing methods, Metrix is tailored to meet the urgent needs of the healthcare landscape.

The Metrix molecular platform brings flexibility and accessibility to healthcare professionals, breaking down the traditional barriers of testing by ensuring that high- quality molecular diagnostics are available wherever and whenever they are needed. This platform delivers timely results, a simplified three-step procedure, and unparalleled flexibility.⁶

The Future of Molecular Testing Technology

Molecular testing technology continues to evolve and improve with each innovation. As with most technological innovations, the more it evolves, the smaller it gets – a key breakthrough in POC testing has been the use of microfluidic technologies to create “lab-on-a-chip” POC assays.

These assays complete all sample, analysis, and detection reactions within microfluidic channels. As a result, lab-on-a-chip assays are small, portable, and require very little sample and reagent. They drastically reduce costs and turnaround times and can enable the detection of multiple analytes.7

The next big step in molecular testing technology is improving its ability to reach underserved populations. POC tests have become critical tools for low- and middle-income countries that don’t have the laboratory infrastructure to support the local health systems. These health systems can leverage POC testing to improve equitable access to quality STBBI screening and diagnosis. New diagnostic technologies cannot exist independently of health systems and practitioners, and the integration into public health programs needs to be supported by strong laboratory structures.8

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