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Updated: Oct 17, 2025
Detection of Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis in Haematological Malignancy Patients by using Lateral-flow Technology
Published on: March 22, 2012
Point-of-care COVID-19 diagnostics powered by lateral flow assay
Yaofeng Zhou1,2, Yuhao Wu1,2, Lu Ding3
1State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330047, PR China.
Insights
Lateral flow assays (LFAs) are vital point-of-care diagnostic tools for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. This review details LFA applications in detecting SARS-CoV-2 RNA, antigens, and antibodies, highlighting their efficiency and ongoing development needs.
Area of Science:
- Medical Diagnostics
- Infectious Disease Research
- Biotechnology
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, necessitates rapid and accessible diagnostic testing.
- Point-of-care (POC) diagnostics are crucial for managing the pandemic, especially post-restriction.
- Lateral flow assays (LFAs) have emerged as a key POC technology for widespread COVID-19 detection.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the critical role of rapid diagnostic tests utilizing LFAs for SARS-CoV-2 detection.
- To discuss the design principles and working mechanisms of LFA-based diagnostic methods.
- To evaluate the clinical diagnostic efficiency of current LFA technologies and identify areas for improvement.
Main Methods:
- Review of numerous studies on LFA-based diagnostic technologies for COVID-19.
- Analysis of LFA applications targeting SARS-CoV-2 RNA, antibodies, and antigens.
- Examination of the design, mechanism, and clinical efficiency of various LFA prototypes and commercial kits.
Main Results:
- Numerous LFA-based diagnostic prototypes have been developed for rapid COVID-19 diagnosis.
- LFAs effectively target SARS-CoV-2-specific RNA, antibodies, antigens, and whole virus.
- Many LFA prototypes have advanced to commercial test kits, demonstrating significant utility.
Conclusions:
- LFAs play a crucial role in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic through rapid POC diagnostics.
- Continuous improvement in LFA technology is needed to address current challenges in COVID-19 diagnostics.
- Further research is essential to enhance the sensitivity, specificity, and accessibility of LFA diagnostics for emerging infectious diseases.
Abstract:
Since its first discovery in December 2019, the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has been posing a serious threat to human life and health. Diagnostic testing is critical for the control and management of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, diagnostic testing at the point of care (POC) has been widely accepted as part of the post restriction COVID-19 control strategy. Lateral flow assay (LFA) is a popular POC diagnostic platform that plays an important role in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic in industrialized countries and resource-limited settings. Numerous pioneering studies on the design and development of diverse LFA-based diagnostic technologies for the rapid diagnosis of COVID-19 have been done and reported by researchers. Hundreds of LFA-based diagnostic prototypes have sprung up, some of which have been developed into commercial test kits for the rapid diagnosis of COVID-19. In this review, we summarize the crucial role of rapid diagnostic tests using LFA in targeting SARS-CoV-2-specific RNA, antibodies, antigens, and whole virus. Then, we discuss the design principle and working mechanisms of these available LFA methods, emphasizing their clinical diagnostic efficiency. Ultimately, we elaborate the challenges of current LFA diagnostics for COVID-19 and highlight the need for continuous improvement in rapid diagnostic tests.
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