Lateral flow immunoassays

Summary

The lateral flow (immuno)assay is a relatively old diagnostic platform that was developed in the 1980s. Over the last 30 years, a very diverse panel of lateral flow immunoassays has been developed and marketed. At the moment, the platform is being transformed into a modern diagnostic tool that can be integrated with nowadays technologies such as optical and electrochemical transducers and wireless data transfer. In addition, more sensitive detection principles have become available. The way forward for this technology is the development of sensitive, multianalyte, and quantitative assays that can compete with some of the diagnostics now used in the laboratory. However, it is still for on-site, point-of-care/need applications. A dedicated reader, end point or real time, is absolutely required to process the data to the user-friendly results. Challenges and future directions of the lateral flow platform are the combination with nucleic acid amplification procedures and the further integration with paper diagnostics. As is evident from the scientific literature and the commercial market, the lateral flow diagnostic platform is being transformed into a competitive diagnostic by combining and incorporating advanced technologies.