Dixon Rachael V, Skaria Eldhose, Lau Wing Man, Manning Philip, Birch-Machin Mark A, Moghimi S Moein, Ng Keng Wooi
School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK.
Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK.
Acta Pharm Sin B. 2021 Aug;11(8):2344-2361. doi: 10.1016/j.apsb.2021.02.010. Epub 2021 Feb 16.
Recent infectious disease outbreaks, such as COVID-19 and Ebola, have highlighted the need for rapid and accurate diagnosis to initiate treatment and curb transmission. Successful diagnostic strategies critically depend on the efficiency of biological sampling and timely analysis. However, current diagnostic techniques are invasive/intrusive and present a severe bottleneck by requiring specialist equipment and trained personnel. Moreover, centralised test facilities are poorly accessible and the requirement to travel may increase disease transmission. Self-administrable, point-of-care (PoC) microneedle diagnostic devices could provide a viable solution to these problems. These miniature needle arrays can detect biomarkers in/from the skin in a minimally invasive manner to provide (near-) real-time diagnosis. Few microneedle devices have been developed specifically for infectious disease diagnosis, though similar technologies are well established in other fields and generally adaptable for infectious disease diagnosis. These include microneedles for biofluid extraction, microneedle sensors and analyte-capturing microneedles, or combinations thereof. Analyte sampling/detection from both blood and dermal interstitial fluid is possible. These technologies are in their early stages of development for infectious disease diagnostics, and there is a vast scope for further development. In this review, we discuss the utility and future outlook of these microneedle technologies in infectious disease diagnosis.
近期的传染病爆发，如新冠疫情和埃博拉疫情，凸显了快速准确诊断对于启动治疗和遏制传播的必要性。成功的诊断策略关键取决于生物样本采集的效率和及时分析。然而，当前的诊断技术具有侵入性，且由于需要专业设备和训练有素的人员而成为严重瓶颈。此外，集中式检测设施难以到达，前往检测的需求可能会增加疾病传播。可自我管理的即时检测（PoC）微针诊断设备可以为这些问题提供可行的解决方案。这些微型针阵列能够以微创方式检测皮肤中的生物标志物，以提供（近）实时诊断。虽然类似技术在其他领域已成熟且通常适用于传染病诊断，但专门用于传染病诊断的微针设备却很少。这些包括用于生物流体提取的微针、微针传感器和分析物捕获微针，或它们的组合。从血液和真皮间质液中进行分析物采样/检测都是可能的。这些技术在传染病诊断方面尚处于早期开发阶段，还有很大的进一步发展空间。在本综述中，我们讨论了这些微针技术在传染病诊断中的实用性和未来前景。
