Point-of-care solutions: between pressures to innovate and market dynamics

In patient care, often every minute counts. This is where solutions for point-of-care testing (PoCT or simply PoC) step in. Diagnostics can be carried out with a simple test directly at the bedside and a result is often available within a few minutes. This means that clinical decisions can be made more quickly, without sample logistics and waiting times in the central lab.

PoC solutions are not intended to replace conventional diagnostics in the laboratory, but to supplement them in specific areas where time is a critical factor or where efficiency potential can be leveraged.

The main advantage of PoC solutions is the time saved: one test replaces a time-consuming analysis in the lab. Promptly available results support rapid therapy selection, control and monitoring, for example in emergency, intensive care or outpatient medicine.

In addition, point-of-care testing enables the decentralization of diagnostic testing services, which is particularly relevant in GP practices, care facilities or resource-poor regions. PoCT can also help to streamline processes and avoid unnecessary follow-up examinations, for example in infection diagnostics or coagulation checks.

PoC solutions therefore save both time and costs. They make life considerably easier for both medical staff and patients.

The diagnostics industry is facing several structural challenges relating to PoCT. Following the pandemic-related peak in demand, the market is once again characterized by moderate growth and high competitive pressure.

One key issue is regulation. The European In Vitro Diagnostics Regulation (IVDR) significantly increases the effort and costs for approval and market surveillance and makes it more difficult to launch products quickly, especially for smaller manufacturers.

Added to this are cost pressure in the healthcare system, a noticeable skills shortage in the industry and growing requirements for digital integration, data security and interoperability of PoCT devices, which increase development costs. The transition from classic rapid tests to more complex, networked testing systems, in particular, presents many companies with technological and organizational hurdles.

Several developments are emerging that will influence the use and integration of point-of-care solutions in the healthcare sector:

• Miniaturization and system integration: microfluidics and cartridge-based systems enable high-performance analytics with low sample volumes. Multiplex systems that test for several analytes simultaneously are becoming increasingly important.
• Molecular PoCT methods: PCR-based and isothermal tests found their way into near-patient settings during the corona pandemic and are still expanding the range of applications today, for example, in infection diagnostics.
• Digitalization and networking: the connection of PoCT devices to hospital and laboratory information systems is becoming standard. Data management, quality assurance and remote monitoring are becoming more important.
• Home testing and telemedicine: PoCT is increasingly moving into the home environment. Mobile devices serve as an evaluation and communication interface and support new on-site care models.
• Next-gen diagnostics: Research-related technologies such as CRISPR-based detection systems show where highly sensitive PoCT applications could be heading.
• Sustainability: As PoCTs are disposable medical products, it is becoming increasingly important for manufacturers to return some components of used tests back into the raw materials cycle

MEDICA brings together manufacturers, developers, buyers and users from the international diagnostics community. In the field of PoCT in particular, it offers a compact overview of new generations of devices, technological platforms and digital solutions, as visitors to MEDICA 2025 were able to see from these examples:

• Colibri point-of-care reader from nal von minden
• GenHome from Attoplex
• BLINK X developed at InfectoGnostics Forschungscampus Jena e.V. (find out more about the technology for digital PCR in our interview)
• printed point-of-care solutions from SENSE4MED s.r.l
• LabDisc from Hahn-Schickard-Gesellschaft für angewandte Forschung e.V.
• OraQuick HIV self-test from OraSure Technologies Inc.

The personal exchange at MEDICA made it possible to quickly and specifically evaluate innovations, compare PoCT solutions and recognize future developments at an early stage.