**Conflict of interest**

Authors declare no conflict of interest.

*Challenges with Point-Of-Care Tests (POCT) for Celiac Disease DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81874*

*Celiac Disease - From the Bench to the Clinic*

and tools for celiac disease.

**5. Conclusion**

**Acknowledgements**

**Conflict of interest**

(APP1101258, IH150100028).

Authors declare no conflict of interest.

step operation and easy-to-interpret results.

of the untrained participants performing POCT HIV test had made multiple errors during testing. It is clear that for a successful adaptation of POCTs across the globe, ideal self-test kits must include easy-to-understand instructions, preferably one-

As discussed above, most of the POCT systems utilize whole blood or serum samples for celiac disease detection. Drawing blood from vein or from finger prick can be viewed by some people as invasive and painful leading to a withdrawal from voluntary testing. In addition, all the mentioned laboratory or POCTs target autoantibodies, such as antibody against tTG, DGP, or even EMA. It means that celiac disease can only be detected after antibodies are circulated in the human body. However, antibody-based tests generally fail at the latent or silent cases of celiac disease or people on voluntary gluten-free diet. Can we achieve celiac disease detection when there is a low amount or no antibodies found? Maybe it is another challenge that researchers have to face when devising the future screening methods

In other fields of analyte detection, including the detection of blood glucose, onsite alcohol and illicit drug tests, and confirmation of pregnancy, there are already various well-developed and commercialized products from different brands. These examples comprise of the use of nanotechnology, microfluidics, or the combination of these two methods together that provide some inspiration for future methods of POCT for celiac disease. In particular, highly accurate and sensitive fast test of HIV [45, 46], tuberculosis [47–49], and malaria [50–52] combine the utilization of lateral flow microfluidics with visual colorimetric observation detection. Indeed, these POCT diagnostic devices can probably provide the most effective and useful tool for mass diagnosis. Additionally, these tests have been proven to be cost-effec-

In conclusion, this chapter has reviewed the current commercially and laboratory-based developed POCT devices and the challenges to be faced with for a rapid and simple test of celiac disease. It is expected that more efforts of multidisciplinary research involved in immunology, lateral flow technology, microfluidics, nanotechnology, and genetics could provide a great opportunity for the fast, accurate, and early diagnosis of celiac disease, dramatically improving the quality of human life.

Dr. Shimoni acknowledges the Australian Research Council, National Health

and Medical Research Council, and AMP Foundation for financial support

tive, simple, and portable, as well as with capacity for multiplexing.

**30**
