Home Health Diagnostics, Microfluidics & IP

The concept of self-conducted diagnostic tests, administered by patients in their own home, would likely have been thought completely preposterous 100 years ago – conjuring-up images of an array of test-tubes, flasks and Bunsen burners. Today, however, home diagnostics (HD) are one of the fastest growing categories of what has been termed consumer-driven healthcare¹. Although there are certain self-administered tests that have been used for decades, such as the home pregnancy test, consumers have been attracted to the convenience, privacy, time and cost benefits of the latest home-testing kits when compared to visiting a primary care physician. This shift has largely been driven by continued technological advances that have brought the testing means out of the lab and into small, cheaply produced, easily operated medical devices.