Rapid diagnostic test

{{short description|Medical diagnostic test that is fast and not labor intensive}}

Image:Streptatest 01.jpg kit]]

A rapid diagnostic test (RDT) is a medical diagnostic test that is quick and easy to perform. RDTs are suitable for preliminary or emergency medical screening and for use in medical facilities with limited resources. They also allow point-of-care testing in primary care for things that formerly only a laboratory test could measure. They provide same-day results within two hours, typically in approximately 20 minutes.{{cite web|title=Simple / Rapid tests|url=https://www.who.int/diagnostics_laboratory/faq/simple_rapid_tests/en/|publisher=WHO|accessdate=19 July 2014}}{{cite web|title=Rapid Diagnostic Tests: How They Work|url=https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/malaria_worldwide/reduction/dx_rdt.html|publisher=CDC|accessdate=19 July 2014}}

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The European Union defines that a rapid test means qualitative or semi-quantitative in vitro-diagnostic medical devices, used singly or in a small series, which involve non-automated procedures and have been designed to give a fast result.2009/886/EC: [https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32009D0886 Commission Decision of 27 November 2009 amending Decision 2002/364/EC on common technical specifications for in vitro diagnostic medical devices]

Lateral flow tests are probably the most known type of rapid diagnostic tests,{{cite journal |last1=Quesada-González |first1=Daniel |last2=Merkoçi |first2=Arben |year=2015 |title=Nanoparticle-based lateral flow biosensors |journal=Biosensors & Bioelectronics |volume=15 |issue=special |pages=47–63 |doi=10.1016/j.bios.2015.05.050|pmid=26043315 |hdl=10261/131760 |url=http://ddd.uab.cat/record/200195 }} similar to pregnancy tests, but there exist other systems as dipsticks, vertical flow, etc. Anything that can be used at bedside (point-of-care) of the patient. Emerging lateral flow technology, the Cornell FeverPhone, has been validated to differentiate causes of acute febrile illness such as Dengue Virus,{{Cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=S |last2=Mehta |first2=S |last3=Erickson |first3=D |date=September 2, 2016 |title=Two-Color Lateral Flow Assay for Multiplex Detection of Causative Agents Behind Acute Febrile Illnesses |journal=Anal Chem |volume=88 |issue=17 |pages=8359–8363 |doi=10.1021/acs.analchem.6b01828 |pmid=27490379|pmc=5396465 }} Chikugunya Virus and Malaria{{Cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=J |last2=Cao |first2=XE |last3=Finkelstein |first3=JL |last4=Cárdenas |first4=WB |last5=Erickson |first5=D |last6=Mehta |first6=S |date=September 18, 2019 |title=A two-colour multiplexed lateral flow immunoassay system to differentially detect human malaria species on a single test line |journal=Malar J |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=313 |doi=10.1186/s12936-019-2957-x |pmid=31533756|pmc=6749696 |doi-access=free }} using a single drop of blood in about 15 minutes.{{Cite news |last=Friedlander |first=Blaine |date=June 21, 2016 |title=NIH provides $2.3M grant for FeverPhone development |work=Cornell Chronicle |url=https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2016/06/nih-provides-23m-grant-feverphone-development |access-date=February 16, 2023}}

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