Portable testing launched here
Medical diagnostic and health management company Alare has launched a 20 minute portable testing device for measuring immune strength in people with HIV to help determine when a patient should begin anti-retroviral therapy in Australia.
The Alare CD4 Test comprises a portable analyser and removable cartridges and tests a patients levels of CD4 T-helper cells from a fingerprick or venous blood sample in only 20 minutes.
Normally a physician would send away to a large centralised lab for a process that could take days, meaning HIV patients living in remote locations often have no or limited access to CD4 testing.
The device comes in a protective case allowing it to be used on site in remote areas and developing nations where a clinical setting may not be available, and the device is already being used in a number of pacific nations including Fiji.
National Association of People living With HIV/AIDS (NAPWA) Executive Director, Jo Watson, told Sydney Star Observer there was a trend towards developing portable diagnostic devices to be used away from lab networks.
“Clearly in resource poor settings and remote areas, these sorts of tools are going to be quite attractive,” she said.
Watson said in Australia the devices were unlikely to be used in environments where lab testing was readily available.
I guess it’s a quick question but, How many people living in remote areas would drop in for a twenty minute test? What remote Australian communities are being targeted in this marketing campaign?