Find out more, call us now: +44 (0) 1234 419430, or email info@rapivd.com
Lateral Flow and Rapid IVD
Contract Research, Development & Manufacture
Working with you when results really matter
Industry Applications - Medical and (much) more
Lateral flow technology is closely associated with medical and healthcare services, but it is being applied to many more industries where there is a need for testing, measuring, monitoring, detecting, assessing and diagnosing.
​
At RAPIvD, we’ve been involved with assay development across multiple sectors.​
Food & Drink
Companies working across the entire food and drink industry are geared to supplying goods that consistently meet consumer and regulatory requirements. Lateral flow devices are an inexpensive, fast and accurate way to detect and measure ingredient quality and contaminants.
​
Devices can be as simple as a dipstick that provides a binary positive/negative result, through to a cassette-housed strip that fits precisely into a bespoke reader for a detailed quantitative measurement.
​
The assay benefits from being developed to the same standards as a medical device, but without the time and financial commitment to clinical trials.
Veterinary
There are an increasing number of lateral flow tests available for helping to assess and monitor animal health. Vets, farmers, pet owners and breeders are benefitting from rapid diagnostics at the point of care.
​
The scope of conditions that lateral flow technology (LFT) can test includes fertility and pregnancy monitoring. This improves the efficiency, effectiveness and health outcomes for breeding animals. Similarly, LFT is helping to detect and monitor disease, infection and illnesses in pets and livestock and the tech’ is being used globally to track the spread of zoonotic disease to manage and restrict the spread of disease between humans and domestic, farm and wild animals.
Security & Law Enforcement
Being under the influence of drugs of abuse, irrespective of the legality of their general use, is almost always illegal in situations such as driving. Having immediate access to a portable, affordable, fast and accurate detection devices can protect innocent people from erroneous suspicion as well as being a lifesaver by taking unfit drivers off public roads.
​
As well as law enforcement, lateral flow technology can help with post-incident investigations, ensure safety in the workplace and assist with access control.
Environmental Monitoring
The association between healthcare and lateral flow technology (LFT) runs deep. Devices are often referred to as point-of-care technology.
​
The very same point-of-care advantages also makes LFT ideal for field testing. Detecting and measuring pollutants and contaminants or even confirming the presence of desirable substances, without the need for heavy, bulky and fragile laboratory equipment is possible with LFT. Amplification and measurement techniques are allowing the current generation of lateral flow tests to reach new limits of detection – meaning that more analytes can be detected to a greater degree of sensitivity and accuracy.
Defence
Lateral flow devices (LFDs) have quietly become a backbone of modern military diagnostics and threat detection. In addition to the traditional healthcare and medical applications for military personnel, LFDs are used to help identify numerous frontline threats.
​
They can quickly provide a first pass detection of biological warfare agents and chemical signatures in explosive residues. They are also used for screening suspicious materials prior to exposing personnel to potentially hazardous materials.
​
Defence organisations value tools that are portable, fast, rugged, low‑power, and operable by non‑specialists. For detecting, testing and measuring harmful substances, LFDs tick every box.
Occupational Health
Healthcare and wellbeing extend into every aspect of life and the workplace is no exception. A duty of care for the health of employees can range from a moral imperative through to a common sense (albeit crude) investment in productive assets. Health & safety in the workplace is also increasingly, a statutory requirement.
​
Whether it’s monitoring the effects of long-term exposure to even moderately innocuous materials; tracking stress in professionals who need to be calm under pressure; testing for highly transmissible illnesses and conditions or detecting the use of illicit substances in staff who have charge of heavy machinery, lateral flow technology can provide a quick, affordable and easy-to-use solution.
Sport & Fitness
When marginal gains can make the difference between champions and also-rans, victory and defeat, profit and loss – managing and maintaining the fitness of elite sportspeople with science-backed evidence is essential. Lab testing can cover a wide range of biomarkers but is slow and expensive. Wearable tech’ provides immediate feedback, but their scope is limited. Lateral flow technology can deliver rapid results for more markers, accurately and without the vast expense.
​
The consumer market for rapid diagnostics continues to grow at all levels of the sports and fitness industry as people are increasingly committed to optimising performance and self-improvement.
Wellness & Beauty
There are plenty of health-related issues that only require medical care and attention in extreme cases but are nonetheless, important for feeling good. The ability to quickly and easily measure and monitor factors such as gut health, stress level and skin conditions are all made possible by lateral flow technology.
​
Lateral flow devices are easy to use without training, they’re affordable, portable and results are available in a matter of minutes. They’re ideal for use at home, work, salon or clinic and they are increasingly valuable for producing evidence-based insights to help people improve the way they look and feel.
Agriculture
The agricultural sector is under constant pressure to improve productivity and efficiency, maximising yields and quality whilst maintaining regulatory standards. Amongst other things, modern farming methods are powered by technology and data.
​
Lateral flow technology is a powerful tool that is reshaping agricultural management. Monitoring, measuring and treating soil conditions, crop quality and animal health are increasingly important. With tight profit margins and unpredictable environmental conditions, having affordable, fast, accurate and easy solutions that improve the quality of real-time decision making is transforming the industry.