Diagnostic testing has traditionally remained in the control of clinics and typically comes at no small cost, but POREX® is shaking up the status quo with a new suite of unmatched industry innovations.

With its “Collection to Detection” diagnostics solutions, POREX® aims to both place power in the hands of the patient and cut operational costs for clinicians. By carefully engineering smart, enabling porous materials designed to speed fluid transfer, POREX® has created a product line that lends itself well to rapid, reliable testing and mobile diagnostics geared toward the future. The innovative materials can collect, transport, prepare and analyze samples thus simplifying and streamlining testing operations. As a whole, the line of solutions offers greater accuracy for results, increased efficiency in the lab and an enhanced experience for the patient.

This ability to add value for the patient and decrease expenses in the clinic or lab is the result of an overarching shift in the market, which has taken the old diagnostics model of a complex system and simple consumable and flipped it to a simple system paired with a complex consumable. The result of this 180-degree shift is that patients can make their own sophisticated and reliable assessments, eliminating time spent waiting for critical results. For clinicians, these diagnostics solutions can reduce overall operational costs and allow for more reliable diagnoses in less time.

Fitting a wide range of testing applications, POREX®’s “Collection to Detection” diagnostics solutions offer practical improvements such as faster sample retrieval within in vitro diagnostics and beyond. At any point in the testing process, these materials offer greater control, flexibility and efficiency.

From the start, collection media featuring ideal capillary structures and customizable wicking and absorption properties allows for controlled delivery of samples in lateral flow assays, pregnancy and qualitative infectious disease tests. Greater methodology assurance is provided through the media’s proprietary color-change technology, optimizable surface energy and minimized non-specific binding.

The patented matrix sampling technology allows the porous matrix to collect, transport, store and release a sample upon demand — all in one single component. The multi-function technology helps eliminate increased biohazard shipping costs associated with sample transport and can be tailored to low- or high-throughput formats.

Proper and trustworthy preparation is also made simpler and quicker with disposable devices that filter and extract key parts of fluid samples within one self-contained system. Separating serum or plasma from centrifuged whole blood and eliminating gel separation particulates and fibrin all in one container reduces instrument downtime; the FDA Class I and II devices allow for faster retrieval of samples in molecular and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.

At the final stage of analysis, robust, certified non-leachable and non-extractable media provide critical functionality in tests that use microdevice applications, like microfluidics or lab-on-a-chip testing. Offering specialization, superior purity and the ability to be device-inserted using common techniques, these materials offer ease of use and reliability of results.

Looking ahead, this kind of improved patient accessibility may have a significant impact on the way that point-of-care (POC) diagnostics work. POREX®’s materials, designed to expertly control samples throughout the testing stages, fit into the concurrent demand for immediate information, the development of handheld technology and the growth of fast-paced, on-the-go lifestyles. Living with a chronic condition like diabetes may be much more manageable with pocket-sized testing technology that makes monitoring one’s own levels simple and easy to navigate. Encouraging stricter patient adherence and self-awareness are just some of the benefits of optimizing diagnostics for mobile use.

For POREX®, creating a line of start-to-finish diagnostics solutions is just the beginning. Following the acquisition of Essentra Porous Technologies, POREX® is positioned as the world leader in porous polymer solutions, with an unmatched portfolio of technologies and depth of expertise in diverse clinical and medical markets.  Get a glimpse of POREX®’s “Collection to Detection” diagnostics solutions and additional emerging innovations at Booth #1281 at the 70th AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo (AACC) (Chicago, July 29 – Aug. 2).