Biosensors and Bioelectronics: X (Sep 2023)

Novel, accurate pathogen sensors for fast detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the aerosol in seconds for a breathalyzer platform

  • Xiaoling Shi,
  • Pardis Sadeghi,
  • Nader Lobandi,
  • Shadi Emam,
  • Seyed Mahdi Seyed Abrishami,
  • Isabel Martos-Repath,
  • Natesan Mani,
  • Mehdi Nasrollahpour,
  • William Sun,
  • Stav Rones,
  • Joshua Kwok,
  • Harsh Shah,
  • Joseph Charles,
  • Zulqarnain Khan,
  • Sheree Pagsuyoin,
  • Akarapan Rojjanapinun,
  • Ping Liu,
  • Jeongmin Chae,
  • Maxime Ferreira Da Costa,
  • Jianxiu Li,
  • Xin Sun,
  • Mengdi Yang,
  • Jiahe Li,
  • Jennifer Dy,
  • Jennifer Wang,
  • Jeremy Luban,
  • ChingWen Chang,
  • Robert Finberg,
  • Urbashi Mitra,
  • Sydney Cash,
  • Gregory Robbins,
  • Cole Hodys,
  • Hui Lu,
  • Patrick Wiegand,
  • Robert Rieger,
  • Nian X. Sun

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14
p. 100369

Abstract

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Rapid and accurate detection of the pathogens, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) for COVID-19, is critical for mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic. Current state-of-the-art pathogen tests for COVID-19 diagnosis are done in a liquid medium and take 10–30 min for rapid antigen tests and hours to days for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. Herein we report novel accurate pathogen sensors, a new test method, and machine-learning algorithms for a breathalyzer platform for fast detection of SARS-CoV-2 virion particles in the aerosol in 30 s. The pathogen sensors are based on a functionalized molecularly-imprinted polymer, with the template molecules being the receptor binding domain spike proteins for different variants of SARS-CoV-2. Sensors are tested in the air and exposed for 10 s to the aerosols of various types of pathogens, including wild-type, D614G, alpha, delta, and omicron variant SARS-CoV-2, BSA (Bovine serum albumin), Middle East respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus (MERS-CoV), influenza, and wastewater samples from local sewage. Our low-cost, fast-responsive pathogen sensors yield accuracy above 99% with a limit-of-detection (LOD) better than 1 copy/μL for detecting the SARS-CoV-2 virus from the aerosol. The machine-learning algorithm supporting these sensors can accurately detect the pathogens, thereby enabling a new and unique breathalyzer platform for rapid COVID-19 tests with unprecedented speeds.

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