Afinion û a new concept in point-of-care testing

Afinion is a genuine multi-assay analyser, offering a wide range of laboratory-quality tests on a single point-of-care system. It is well suited to multi-user environments (eg community clinics) where test results are required quickly and where a laboratory service may not be available.

Tests already available on Afinion include glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and C-reactive protein (CRP), with albumin:creatinine ratio (ACR) and prothrombin time international normalised ratio (PT-INR) in the final stages of development.

Other tests (eg homocysteine) will be introduced later.

Estimation of HbA1c is used to monitor diabetes and is the parameter of choice for long-term glycaemic control, and Afinion can provide results automatically in just three minutes. C-reactive protein is used as a diagnostic tool for the differentiation of viral and bacterial infections. A rapid CRP test is valuable in avoiding the prescription of antibiotics if an infection is likely to have a viral cause.