Chapter 1 **Introductory Chapter: Rapid Test - Advances in Design, Formats, and Detection Strategies 1**  Laura Anfossi, Cristina Giovannoli and Claudio Baggiani


**Chapter 1**

Provisional chapter

**Introductory Chapter: Rapid Test - Advances in Design,**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.79805

The term "rapid test" is used to indicate a series of analytical methods that generally share common features, such as being easy to operate, quick, and cheap, and above all enable on-site application. Among several variants, the most explicative synonym of such kind of analytical methods is represented by the locution "point-of-care test" ("point-of-need test" to extend to fields of applications other than medicine), which highlights the key feature of rapid tests, i.e., the ability to provide a response to an analytical demand exactly where the demand is posed. The point-of-need testing approach bases on simplifying and shortening the analytical process by cutting most of the steps required by traditional, laboratory-based analysis (Figure 1). This strategy allows for multiple benefits to be reached, besides saving time and money, namely, (i) enabling timely decisions and intervention, (ii) encompassing issues associated to sample transportation and storage, (iii) enlarging the access to control especially in low-resource settings, and (iv) allowing for multiple measures over time, thus increasing the efficiency of

The story of rapid tests originates in the medical field where they were developed for providing portable diagnostic tools that can be operated directly by physicians or even patients themselves. In the clinical context, a timely response means superior benefits for the patient, who immediately access the treatment, and for the society as a whole. In fact, the point-of-care testing strategy enables efficiently controlling the spreading of infectious diseases and also

The first rapid test dates back to 1962, when a new method to measure glucose in blood was developed [1]. The next milestone was reached in 1976 with the approval of three home pregnancy tests by the US Food and Drug administration (FDA). These tests were placed on

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© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. Distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits use, distribution

Introductory Chapter: Rapid Test - Advances in Design,

**Formats, and Detection Strategies**

Formats, and Detection Strategies

Laura Anfossi, Cristina Giovannoli and

Laura Anfossi, Cristina Giovannoli and

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79805

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Claudio Baggiani

Claudio Baggiani

1. Rapid tests

monitoring programs.

generally reducing healthcare costs.
