Trends in In Vitro Diagnostics Paving the Way to Next-Generation Healthcare

Dear Colleagues,

The last decade has witnessed tremendous advances in the field of in vitro diagnostics (IVDs), which have led to considerably improved clinical diagnostics and better health outcomes. Point-of-care testing formats have been used in much higher numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic, which acted as a catalyst for IVDs. It increased the outreach of diagnostics to the wider general population and led to at-home testing. The use of various smart monitoring technologies for communication, regulation, and healthcare records also enabled the real-time tracking of critical data. Similarly, point-of-care molecular diagnostic tests have proven to be of significant utility and are further extending confirmatory IVD tests to be performed in remote, decentralized, and home settings. The COVID-19 pandemic has also played a predominant role in assessing the tremendous potential of molecular diagnostics as a confirmatory IVD test in healthcare. Similarly, there has been continuously growing interest in next-generation sequencing (NGS), which has proven to be of uttermost importance in analyzing the COVID-19 variants infecting specific populations. Central laboratories based on the use of fully automated high-throughput analyzer and automation systems have led to large-scale IVD testing, which has led to increased clinical diagnoses. Several companies and scientists are investing a great deal in order to bring various novel technologies to the market, such as fully automated mass spectrophotometry systems, large-scale multiplex assay formats, artificial intelligence (AI)-based diagnoses, high-sensitivity assay formats, novel disease biomarkers, and improved clinical-score-based diagnostics. The emerging trends and recent developments in IVDs are paving the way for next-generation healthcare.

The topics of interest for this Special Issue are specified below, although any manuscript related to the theme of the Special Issue will be considered.

• In vitro diagnostics.
• Point-of-care testing.
• Chemiluminescent immunoassays.
• Lateral flow immunoassays.
• Molecular diagnostics.
• Enzyme-linked immunoassays.
• Next-generation sequencing.
• Automated assays.
• Mass spectrophotometry.
• Multiplex assays.
• Artificial intelligence.
• At-home testing.
• Novel disease biomarkers.
• Improved clinical diagnostic algorithms.
• Pandemic response and preparedness.
• Smart technologies.
• Novel assay formats.

Dr. Sandeep K. Vashist
Guest Editor

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• IVDs (in vitro diagnostics)
• POCT (point-of-care testing)
• LFA (lateral flow assay)
• CLIA (clinical laboratory improvement amendments)
• multiplex assays
• PCR
• NGS (next-generation sequencing)
• AI
• at-home testing
• biomarkers
• smart technologies