Biosensors (Jun 2022)

Rapid Quantification of SARS-Cov-2 Spike Protein Enhanced with a Machine Learning Technique Integrated in a Smart and Portable Immunosensor

  • Simone Fortunati,
  • Chiara Giliberti,
  • Marco Giannetto,
  • Angelo Bolchi,
  • Davide Ferrari,
  • Gaetano Donofrio,
  • Valentina Bianchi,
  • Andrea Boni,
  • Ilaria De Munari,
  • Maria Careri

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/bios12060426
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 6
p. 426

Abstract

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An IoT-WiFi smart and portable electrochemical immunosensor for the quantification of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein was developed with integrated machine learning features. The immunoenzymatic sensor is based on the immobilization of monoclonal antibodies directed at the SARS-CoV-2 S1 subunit on Screen-Printed Electrodes functionalized with gold nanoparticles. The analytical protocol involves a single-step sample incubation. Immunosensor performance was validated in a viral transfer medium which is commonly used for the desorption of nasopharyngeal swabs. Remarkable specificity of the response was demonstrated by testing H1N1 Hemagglutinin from swine-origin influenza A virus and Spike Protein S1 from Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus. Machine learning was successfully used for data processing and analysis. Different support vector machine classifiers were evaluated, proving that algorithms affect the classifier accuracy. The test accuracy of the best classification model in terms of true positive/true negative sample classification was 97.3%. In addition, the ML algorithm can be easily integrated into cloud-based portable Wi-Fi devices. Finally, the immunosensor was successfully tested using a third generation replicating incompetent lentiviral vector pseudotyped with SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein, thus proving the applicability of the immunosensor to whole virus detection.

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