Evolving Rapid Diagnostics Tools

The increasing threat of resistant bacterial phenotypes, leading to increased rates of treatment failure as well as prolonged hospitalization, necessitate early detection and more targeted therapy to improve clinical outcomes. Traditional microbiology laboratory diagnostic testing has been used for decades to identify the pathogens causing the infectious diseases and its susceptibility to antibiotics but these techniques are flawed particularly with long turnaround time. Rapid diagnostic platforms are able to identify the infective organisms as well as antibiotics susceptibility pattern within a significantly shorter period of time, which guides targeted antimicrobial treatment and limit the exposure to broad-spectrum antibiotics, the main trigger for bacterial resistance. Immuno-assay-based, nucleic acid probebased, nucleic acid amplification-based and spectrometry-based techniques, in addition to the future development of whole genome sequencing and microfluidics are technological solutions that can be used by microbiology laboratories to minimize sample-to-answer time. This chapter aims to illustrate the rapid diagnostic testing platforms, discussing their scientific principle of operation, advantages and limitations. Also, the importance of effective incorporation of these techniques in patient care process.

Keywords: Antibiotics, Bacterial Resistance, Diagnostics Tools, Infectious Diseases, Pathogens, Techniques, Treatment.