Impedimetric Sensing: An Emerging Tool for Combating the COVID-19 Pandemic
Victor Ong,
Ali Soleimani,
Farbod Amirghasemi,
Sina Khazaee Nejad,
Mona Abdelmonem,
Meisam Razaviyayn,
Parisa Hosseinzadeh,
Lucio Comai,
Maral P. S. Mousavi
Affiliations
Victor Ong
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
Ali Soleimani
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
Farbod Amirghasemi
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
Sina Khazaee Nejad
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
Mona Abdelmonem
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
Meisam Razaviyayn
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
Parisa Hosseinzadeh
Knight Campus Center Department of Bioengineering, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA
Lucio Comai
Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
Maral P. S. Mousavi
Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed a pressing need for the development of sensitive and low-cost point-of-care sensors for disease diagnosis. The current standard of care for COVID-19 is quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). This method is sensitive, but takes time, effort, and requires specialized equipment and reagents to be performed correctly. This make it unsuitable for widespread, rapid testing and causes poor individual and policy decision-making. Rapid antigen tests (RATs) are a widely used alternative that provide results quickly but have low sensitivity and are prone to false negatives, particularly in cases with lower viral burden. Electrochemical sensors have shown much promise in filling this technology gap, and impedance spectroscopy specifically has exciting potential in rapid screening of COVID-19. Due to the data-rich nature of impedance measurements performed at different frequencies, this method lends itself to machine-leaning (ML) algorithms for further data processing. This review summarizes the current state of impedance spectroscopy-based point-of-care sensors for the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This article also suggests future directions to address the technology’s current limitations to move forward in this current pandemic and prepare for future outbreaks.
