Lateral Flow Technology for Field-Based Applications—Basics and Advanced Developments

Abstract

In terms of their ability to provide accurate information there is a traditional continuum in diagnostics that ranges from highly accurate methods requiring infrastructure and a centralized approach to testing to less accurate technologies that can be used in a decentralized or point of care testing strategy and that require little to no supporting infrastructure. Today's lateral flow assays marry the utility of a truly field deployable, simple to use technology with the high performance of many laboratory based assay formats. Advances in recent years have allowed for the extension of performance of lateral flow assays into applications that require high accuracy and sensitivity while still maintaining the advantages of the technology from the perspective of infrastructure requirements and user friendliness. This has allowed for improved application of this technology in decentralized testing environments; veterinary, medical and otherwise. The lateral flow assay, once considered less accurate and less capable than infrastructure-heavy, laboratory based formats, is being viewed more and more as a truly versatile technology, capable of more than adequate performance at all ends of the diagnostic continuum. This article discusses the state of the art in lateral flow technology and outlines the utility of the technology in a variety of field based applications.