Powering point-of-care diagnostic devices

Effective and rapid point-of-care (POC) diagnostics have the capability to revolutionize public healthcare both in developed and developing countries. One of the key challenges that is critical to address in developing POC devices is to effectively and sufficiently power them. In developing countries, where the electricity grid is not well established and the use of batteries is not cost-effective, power supplies are the most problematic issue for stand-alone and self-sustained POC devices. In this review, we provide an overview of techniques for powering POC diagnostic devices for use in both developed and developing countries, as well as detailed discussions of recent advancements in POC devices. Then, we discuss next-generation POC diagnostics and their power source strategies.