LAMP Diagnostics at the Point-of-Care: Emerging Trends and Perspectives for the Developer Community

Area of Science:

• Molecular Diagnostics
• Isothermal Amplification Technologies

Background:

• Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) has become crucial in molecular diagnostics over the last decade.
• LAMP offers advantages in speed, sensitivity, specificity, cost, and accessibility, making it suitable for resource-limited settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review front-end LAMP design for point-of-care (POC) applications.
• To explore field-validated LAMP technologies and their application in detecting SARS-CoV-2 using reverse transcription (RT-LAMP).
• To identify challenges and opportunities in translating LAMP from laboratory to field settings.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on LAMP design, sample handling, and signal readout methodologies.
• Analysis of clinical validation studies of LAMP technologies.
• Summary of recent advancements in RT-LAMP for viral detection.

Main Results:

• LAMP is well-suited for POC diagnostics due to its favorable characteristics.
• RT-LAMP has emerged as a rapid alternative to PCR for SARS-CoV-2 detection.
• Several LAMP technologies have demonstrated clinical validity in field settings.

Conclusions:

• LAMP technology shows significant promise for field-deployable diagnostics.
• Addressing fundamental understanding gaps is essential for advancing LAMP assay development and characterization.
• Future work should focus on overcoming challenges in LAMP translation and performance reporting.