Fast Diagnosis of Infections Affecting Women

A range of new products have been developed to provide fast and efficient diagnosis of women's infections.

Inverness Medical Professional Diagnostics (Princeton, NJ, USA) developed these products, utilizing optical immunoassay (OIA) technology. The BioStar OIA technology permits direct visual detection of the physical change in optical thickness of molecular thin films resulting from the binding reactions between antibodies and antigens. The signal is generated by the change in the reflection of light through the molecular thin films formed on an optical substrate.

White light reflected through the molecular thin film results in a predominant visual background gold color. Changes in the thickness of the optical molecular thin film will alter this gold color. The change occurs when antigens in liquid samples bind with immobilized antibodies. Because this binding reaction increases the thickness of the film, it changes the optical path through it and the gold color changes to blue or purple, indicating a positive result.

The BioStar OIA Streptococcus B test is a simple, rapid diagnostic test that provides results in just 21 minutes and helps monitor mothers during labor and delivery. The test identifies mothers at risk of delivering a group B Streptococcus (GBS) baby directly from cervical or vaginal swabs. This allows time for adequate prevention measures to be commenced, such as antibiotics during delivery, which reduces transmission of GBS from mother to child.

Timing is also the key to tackling chlamydia because one in four patients diagnosed with the disease do not return for follow-up treatment. Rapid diagnosis is vital as treatment delays of as little as three days from the onset of symptoms can result in infertility and/or ectopic pregnancies. A BioStar OIA Chlamydia test meets this need.

The BioStar OIA GC test is a rapid assay for the diagnosis of gonorrhea. BioStar OIA GC is a specific, rapid test for the detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (GC) from an endocervical swab for females or from male urine specimens. The BioStar OIA range of tests is designed for use by healthcare professionals in hospitals, clinics, laboratories, and other point-of-care settings.


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