Point of care testing of sports biomarkers: potential applications, recent advances and future outlook

Abstract

Point of care testing (POCT) platforms are analytical devices used for rapid on-site sensing applications. POCT in sports science has attracted significant attention as the markers related to physiological changes and metabolism can be analysed on-site for monitoring an athlete's health, performance, recovery and even for doping control. POCT platforms also possess the potential to facilitate trainers in optimizing the training regimes for preventing injuries, track their nutrition, and could potentially assist sports committees to enforce effective doping control measures during and outside competitions. This review is a consolidated report on emerging trends in POCT platforms in sports science. The methodologies reported thus far that have already been applied or possess a potential to be applied for detection of various sports biomarkers are elaborated. A comprehensive outlook is further provided, which would aid efforts on development of POCT platforms for a wide range of applications.