The application of near patient testing to microbiology.

Near patient testing (NPT) was the norm in days when urine was examined by smell and taste. More recently, general practitioners and physicians in genitourinary medicine began to use light microscopes in their consulting rooms to examine urine for pus cells and urethral and other swabs for pathogens. Increasing knowledge has led to specialisation, however, with clinicians obtaining specimens for examination by others.