Phil Groom, commercial director at Bond Digital Health, explores the advances of digital use in lateral flow tests, and the benefits of connectivity and data capture.
Nick Morrish
CARDIFF, UK:Products from Bond Digital Health being used in an office in Cardiff, Wales on 22 July 2021(Picture by Nick Morrish)
From relative obscurity to mainstream recognition, lateral flow tests have been on quite the journey over the last two years.
These unassuming diagnostic devices have even been described by some as the unsung “heroes” of the pandemic for their affordability and simplicity and for providing rapid, accurate results.
The distribution of millions of lateral flow tests by governments across the world has allowed asymptomatic people to test themselves for the virus and helped schools and workplaces to stay open.
Now the world knows about lateral flow testing, it’s time for test manufacturers and developers to seize the opportunity to innovate for the future.
The next obvious evolution of lateral flow, to get the most out of the technology, is to go digital.
Adding digital connectivity to a test means you’ve straight away transformed a simple test into a powerful, real-time data sharing system.
Lateral flow test results and other patient data can be recorded easily in real time without a reader.
End users get instant feedback and meaningful results through easy-to-use smartphone apps and desktop dashboards. This empowers them to make informed decisions about their health and lifestyle.
Here are three benefits of digitised lateral flow testing:
1. It will be a vital tool for future pandemics
Experts have warned that COVID-19 might not be the last viral pandemic we see in our lifetime. In a pandemic, the advantages of digitally connected lateral flow tests are clear. You get:
· Instant results: Test results can be instantly uploaded to a secure cloud database, removing manual data entry errors.
· Enhanced data: Simultaneous capture of critical epidemiological data (such as age, gender, BMI, blood group and any underlying health conditions) and GPS location can help to better understand the nature of the virus.
· Shareable data: Live, geo-mapped results enable public health services globally to see the effects of the virus in real time and more efficiently target and deploy resources on the ground, such as healthcare staff, further diagnostic tests, medicines, and vaccines.
· Traceability: Authorities can test and track the spread of the virus and alert users of possible infection risks. Patient contact details can be simultaneously recorded in a data protection compliant way (e.g. Europe’s GDPR).
2. It can help plug data gaps and create greater equality in healthcare
Despite living in a data-led world, too often our healthcare is data deficient, especially when it comes to women’s health.
That’s because many medical protocols have been traditionally based on male health datasets.
It means data isn’t representative of the whole population – and this is where digitised lateral flow testing has an important role to play.
The centralisation of data gathering in healthcare – in controlled environments like labs and hospitals – is one of the reasons these data gaps appear.
Lateral flow tests decentralise subject testing. They can be made available via the post, in workplaces, in schools and universities, via community hubs, pharmacies and over the counter, and can be carried out at home, at work, at school – in fact in hundreds of places that are not a lab. As well as providing a significantly cheaper way to test, they also provide a standardised way of assessing results that aren’t subject to reporting biases.
Digitised lateral flow testing allows data to be gathered reliably at a very large scale outside of traditional lab conditions. And this means that it can be sourced from more types of people.
3. It can change our perceptions of patient generated health data (PGHD)
Patient generated health data (PGHD) is a hot topic in healthcare, with connected technology driving a shift towards patient-centric care.
The amount of PGHD has increased exponentially in recent years and will continue to grow as patients and health professionals adopt new technology.
Much of the discussion around the future of PGHD has focused on new and emerging health technologies, including connected implants, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. But, post-pandemic, digitally connected lateral flow tests can become an integral part of the shift towards greater use of PGHD.
From infectious diseases to lifestyle applications, lateral flow tests can capture valuable data and help put patients in charge of their own healthcare.
Test developers should stop marketing their tests as a "throwaway" technology and instead realise their potential to become a powerful part of the data-driven healthcare technology revolution.
