Designing Diagnostic Consumables: Custom or Off-the-Shelf?

Designing point-of-care diagnostic cartridges has always been a custom affair. Specialized designers and engineers use know-how in assay development, microfluidics, and systems engineering to develop a product from top to bottom. The result is a custom design directly and uniquely addressing a market need. However, as the industry matures, novel components, pre-developed subsystems, and even entire white-label systems are increasingly viable options. These off-the-shelf (OTS) options can dramatically reduce the project’s cost and risk, but only when ultimately well-suited to the application. Understanding your unique needs and the tradeoffs with each approach is key. See MPO article