Expanding TB Detection with a Novel Diagnostic Test

Lack of rapid, point-of-care diagnostics and reliance on sputum samples and microscopy for diagnosis are hurdles to detection of tuberculosis (TB). Researchers conducted this prospective study to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and clinician-rated usability of MTB Nucleic Acid Test Card (MiniDock MTB), a swab-based molecular test for detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex that uses a battery-operable platform and produces visible results within 25 minutes (Figure 1).

Participants were outpatients >12 years old with presumptive pulmonary TB in 7 high–TB-burden countries. The authors compared both sputum-swab and tongue-swab results with MiniDock MTB to results of standard sputum-smear microscopy and sputum polymerase chain react…