COVID-19 detection with a Lateral Flow immunochromatographic Assay

Souradip Mallick, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela

Airborne pathogens are infectious diseases highly transmissible between humans. Many pandemic diseases have been associated with airborne pathogen transmission.Severe acute respiratory syndrome(SARS) in 2003, influenza A(H1N1) virus in 2009, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus(MERS-CoV) in 2012 are infectious viruses transmitted through aerosol. A disposable kit was developed for easy collection and detection of airborne viruses on-site. The disposable virus monitoring kit developed by the team is just like the pregnancy test kit which enables both sampling and diagnosing of airborne viruses within 50 minutes onsite without any separate cleaning or separation process. Even the novelCorona Virus disease 2019(COVID-19) can be detected by this disposable kit. 

Simple, portable, and cost-effective detection techniques are required for airborne pathogens.For detection of airborne pathogens effectively both aerosol collection and analysis techniques are required. Aerosol Sampling methods include gravitational sampling, electrostatic sampling, centrifuge sampling which require heavy instruments, long sampling times, or other complex setups. But current aerosol analysis techniques rely on culture, mass spectrometry, or reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Analysis techniques require high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry devices, highly sensitive and accurate but these are time-consuming and complex procedures and labor-intensive.Therefore, these methods are not for on-site monitoring and field applications.

Rapid, accurate, and reliable diagnostics are pivotal in case of monitoring as well as preventing the spread and emergence of airborne pathogens. A paper-based lateral flow immunochromatographic assay (LFA) is a rapid, sensitive, and specific diagnosis for multiple viruses. Disposable lateral flow immunochromatographic assay detection kit was a portable, low-cost assembly in a compact size air sampler. The developed monitoring platform collects and concentrates the airborne virus on a porous glass fiber pad, and then the virus is flowed to the detection zone by a capillary force. The flowed virus is combined with the near-infrared (NIR) emission of synthesized nanoprobes conjugated with antibodies that react only to specific viruses in order to selectively detect the desired viruses even if several types of viruses exist in the environment. 

The airborne viruses sometimes are affected by external factors such as the indoor space area size, the use of the air conditioning systems, as well as temperature and humidity. Thus, the KIST-GIST collaborative research team introduced an artificial aerosolization chamber system that regulates external factors to verify the developed platform and conducts experiments under certain conditions. The team was successful in the detection of influenza viruses with an efficiency of about 82% through surface pretreatment and test solution optimization to finally detect the virus in the detection zone.

Also read: Luminescence dating: a fascinating method

Source: Integrated Bioaerosol Sampling/Monitoring Platform: Field-Deployable and Rapid Detection of Airborne Viruses” https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acssensors.0c0153

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