Abstract
Many of the critical fungal diagnostic tests used in the front-line diagnosis of invasive fungal infection (IFI) have not altered significantly in many years, resulting in poor outcomes in patients with IFIs. Microscopy and in vitro fungal culture, histopathology, radiography and CT imaging, serology and antigen detection procedures, and lateral-flow devices are still extensively used. Some of these diagnostic methods can be transformed into point-of-care diagnostics that can be employed when extensive specialized mycological expertise is lacking. Alternative high-tech molecular-based technologies are increasingly being used to supplement these base methodologies, ranging from polymerase chain reaction and DNA-sequencing-based approaches to protein fingerprinting using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. The future of diagnostic technologies will be the development of multiplex diagnostics that do not require fungal culture and might incorporate the simultaneous assessment of other essential characteristics, such as providing information about the fungal pathogen's treatment resistance profile. This chapter explored recent fungal diagnostics and the development of novel biophysical technologies for selective and sensitive fungal biosensors to supplement existing diagnostic procedures.
Published Version
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