By Clinical Informatics News Staff

September 3, 2014 | In an acknowledgement of the growing interest in point-of-care testing to expand access to diagnostics and control healthcare costs, the POC and mHealth Diagnostics Summit will premiere this November in Boston to address both technology and policy considerations needed to support these diagnostic tools. The summit will feature a "Technologies" section, a "Clinical-Consumer Interface" section, and an exhibit hall where new point-of-care testing and mobile health products will be demonstrated.

In the "Technologies" section, Rebecca Richards-Kortum of Rice University will deliver a keynote address on detecting early-stage cancer at the point of care. This is a pressing concern as cancer exacts a rising public health toll in resource-limited countries where few have access to the sophisticated hospital systems needed to treat late-stage cancer. Richards-Kortum will discuss clinical trials across three continents that take advantage of portable imaging devices to diagnose oral, cervical, and esophageal cancers before they become life-threatening. Other speakers addressing point-of-care cancer testing will include Jane Brock of Harvard Medical School, on the development of POC tools that can finely distinguish molecular and histopathological subtypes of breast cancer.

Numerous speakers will also present smartphone-integrated tools, including for the optical diagnosis of melanoma and bacterial skin lesions, detection of Salmonella in food and water samples, and smartphone-mediated use of ECG electrodes to monitor atrial fibrillation.

In the "Clinical-Consumer Interface" section, a keynote address by Alberto Gutierrez of the FDA Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health will reflect on the benefits of home testing for urgent chronic health problems in the U.S., including asthma and diabetes. Gutierrez will relate how the FDA views digital health platforms that seek to improve home monitoring in these areas. To further explore the growth of digital health, a panel of industry and hospital-affiliated experts, including executives from Mango Health, Careticker, and Pixie Scientific, will discuss the commercial implementation of these tools.

A similar panel, featuring Carlos Rodarte of PatientsLikeMe, Alexandra Pelletier of Boston Children's Hospital, and executives from MC10 and Quanttus, will later address how wearable technologies can be designed, commercialized, and used in active patient care. Other notable presentations will include case studies from the Mayo Clinic in which POC devices and apps were used to address acute illness, and Valmeek Kudesia of the Veterans Administration on how a flexible electronic health record system can be used to support trials of POC interventions.

The summit will take place at the Sheraton Boston Hotel, November 5-7.