This article gives a helpful reminder of current practice – it details the classic medical process of … history –> clinical examination –> beside tests –> laboratory tests. Of relevance to General Practice it explores the use of CRP and Procalcitonin tests. Thereafter it highlights upcoming technologies that show potential to be helpful in the future.
From their website;
New technologies
New technologies that are likely to emerge as important diagnostic tools in future include nanoparticle probe technology and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS). Nanosphere’s Verigene Gram-positive (BC-GP) blood culture assay is performed directly on positive blood cultures using nucleic acid extraction and PCR amplification. Target DNA is then hybridised to oligonucleotides on a microarray with automated qualitative analysis. The test was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2014 and currently has the ability to identify 10 Gram-positive and 8 Gram-negative organisms along with multiple resistance genes. Currently, two MALDI-TOFMS platforms are available in the USA, MALDI Biotyper (Bruker Corporation, Billerica, Mass.) and VitekMS System (bio-Merieux, Durham, NC). MALDI-TOF performs MS on target molecules following ionisation and disintegration; these patterns are compared with known organism fingerprints. It is capable of analysing thousands of samples from specimens per day, including blood, sputum and urine. Another promising infection testing platform that uses PCR followed by electrospray ionisation MS (PCR/ESI-MS) technology is able to rapidly detect >800 bacteria, including unculturable organisms and three classes of antibiotic resistance markers, directly from clinical specimens. In a recent study of 331 blood samples it was able to detect twice as many organisms as culture.[21]
http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0256-95742015000500034&lng=en&nrm=iso
