An Alternative Medical Diagnosis Method: Biosensors for Virus Detection

Abstract

Infectious diseases still pose an omnipresent threat to global and public health, especially in many countries and rural areas of cities. Underlying reasons of such serious maladies can be summarized as the paucity of appropriate analysis methods and subsequent treatment strategies due to the limited access of centralized and equipped health care facilities for diagnosis. Biosensors hold great impact to turn our current analytical methods into diagnostic strategies by restructuring their sensing module for the detection of biomolecules, especially nano-sized objects such as protein biomarkers and viruses. Unquestionably, current sensing platforms require continuous updates to address growing challenges in the diagnosis of viruses as viruses change quickly and spread largely from person-to-person, indicating the urgency of early diagnosis. Some of the challenges can be classified in biological barriers (specificity, low number of targets, and biological matrices) and technological limitations (detection limit, linear dynamic range, stability, and reliability), as well as economical aspects that limit their implementation into resource-scarce settings. In this review, the principle and types of biosensors and their applications in the diagnosis of distinct infectious diseases were comprehensively explained. The deployment of current biosensors into resource-scarce settings is further discussed for virus detection by elaborating the pros and cons of existing methods as a conclusion and future perspective.

Keywords: biosensor; medical applications; virus detection.

Figure 1

Schematic representations of the electro-chemiluminescence (a) and quartz crystal microbalance; (b) biosensors for the detection of HIV-1. Republished with permission from [84,85]; permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.

Figure 2

Sensorgrams for the interaction between hepatitis B surface antibody positive human serum and biosensor (a) and voltamograms for the hepatitis B virus DNA sandwich assay in a conventional electrochemical biosensor (b). Republished with permission from [91,92].

Figure 3

Schematic representation of different steps for the fabrication of electrochemical biosensor (a) and three-dimensional renderings and the experimental measurements illustrate the detection scheme using optofluidic nanoplasmonic biosensors based on resonance transmissions due to extraordinary light transmission effect (b). Republished with permission from [99,100].

Figure 4

Diagram of the graphene biosensor (a), the illustration of the entire biosensor system (b) and an atomic force microscope image of the graphene after protein attachment (c). Republished with permission from [104].

Figure 5

Schematic diagram of a V-trench biosensor (a); norovirus DNA detection: sensitivity and specificity tests (b); and working principle of the biosensor for norovirus detection (c). Republished with permission from [110,111,112].

Figure 6

Schematic illustration of the strategy of the gold nanoparticle-based chronoamperometric biosensor development for influenza virus (a) and the preparation of aptamer-based biosensor and the determination of rHA protein of H5N1 (b). Republished with permission from [115,117].

Figure 7

A schematic diagram of the sensor, scanning electron microscope image of nanowire arrays and the corresponding contact lines, transmission electron microscope image of nanowire after surface functionalization (a); selectivity test of selected phage clones: phage particles were incubated with dengue virus NS1 proteins, dengue virus type 1 NS1 and type 2 NS1 protein (b). Republished with permission from [123,124,126].

Figure 8

Schematic representation of the sensing platform for sample processing and detection, viral DNA extracted from the platform and followed by an optical biosensor for the detection of human adenovirus in a single cartridge (a); curve fitting of the series concentrations of the human enterovirus 71 samples (b); the preparation of the biosensor for detection of the Epstein–Barr virus infection (c); the imprinting process for creation virus responsive hydrogels (d). Republished with permission from [130,131,132,133].