The WHO End TB Strategy calls for the early diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) and universal drug susceptibility testing (DST), highlighting the critical role of laboratories in the post-2015 era for rapidly and accurately detecting TB and drug resistance. Molecular assays based on nucleic acid amplification techniques such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have been developed for rapid TB diagnosis and are being implemented in developing countries. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is a unique temperature-independent way of DNA amplification, and is facilitated by a visual optic readout in an instrument that is robust and can be used at the peripheral health center level where microscopy is performed. LAMP methodology has been used for the detection of malaria and several neglected tropical diseases. A commercial molecular assay based on loop-mediated isothermal amplification (TB-LAMP) was developed by Eiken Chemical Company Ltd (Tokyo, Japan) for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). TB-LAMP is a manual assay that requires less than one hour to perform and can be read with the naked eye under ultraviolet light.