Alternative Specimen
As concerns for patients´ individual feelings and their desire for less invasive diagnostic procedures grow, the use of alternative specimens for diagnostics increases. Saliva, ear wax, or urine are among the specimens collected through non-invasive methods. Saliva, for instance, allows for easy storage and is low cost – when compared to blood. As a greater number of ailments become detectable through saliva, researchers are driving toward making at-home saliva collection devices as simple and seamless to use as possible.
EXAMPLE 1:
Cortisol can be measured in blood, but this only gives a snapshot of an individual’s levels of the hormone at that moment. The company Trears Biomarkers with a base in Chile and the UK has developed a device for seamless extraction of earwax for subsequent analysis and measurement of cortisol values. According to Dr. Andres Herane-Vives, the device´s developer, this could open the door to better ways of diagnosing psychiatric conditions including depression.
EXAMPLE 2:
Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT) and proteomics research has largely been based on the use of traditional specimens such as blood and tissue, which have also been the most useful specimens for the development of functional diagnostic tests.
Recent advances in salivary diagnostics research have provided several new and non-invasive options for the isolation of cell-free RNA (cfRNA), cell-free DNA (cfDNA), exosomes, and proteins. Pure SAL allows the collection, purification, and stabilization of saliva samples for different downstream applications.
Expert Statement Markus Riepl:
Diagnostic tests can be performed on many types of fluids from the body other than blood. As a result, new tests are also developed for saliva or urine samples and it has to be considered that innovative diagnostic methods will make a significant contribution to extend field of specimens.
Expert Statement Dieter Deryckere:
A blood draw is still a hurdle for a lot of patients. Avoidance of needles by people is a fact. Therefore, sampling natural behaviors is winning a lot of interest these days. A natural action like going to the toilet could lead to improved compliance to motivate people to get diagnosed rather earlier than later in the disease state. Monitoring and diagnostics of these kind of behavioral patterns and samples could increase early detection and thus improve the healthcare system in general.