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Review
. 2021 Nov 23;15(11):17137-17149.
doi: 10.1021/acsnano.1c06839. Epub 2021 Oct 27.

Nanodiagnostics to Face SARS-CoV-2 and Future Pandemics: From an Idea to the Market and Beyond

Giulio Rosati  1 , Andrea Idili  1 , Claudio Parolo  1 , Celia Fuentes-Chust  1 , Enric Calucho  1 , Liming Hu  1 , Cecilia de Carvalho Castro E Silva  1   2 , Lourdes Rivas  1 , Emily P Nguyen  1 , José F Bergua  1 , Ruslan Alvárez-Diduk  1 , José Muñoz  1   3 , Christophe Junot  4 , Oriol Penon  5 , Dominique Monferrer  5 , Emmanuel Delamarche  6 , Arben Merkoçi  1
Affiliations
Review

Nanodiagnostics to Face SARS-CoV-2 and Future Pandemics: From an Idea to the Market and Beyond

Giulio Rosati et al. ACS Nano. .

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic made clear how our society requires quickly available tools to address emerging healthcare issues. Diagnostic assays and devices are used every day to screen for COVID-19 positive patients, with the aim to decide the appropriate treatment and containment measures. In this context, we would have expected to see the use of the most recent diagnostic technologies worldwide, including the advanced ones such as nano-biosensors capable to provide faster, more sensitive, cheaper, and high-throughput results than the standard polymerase chain reaction and lateral flow assays. Here we discuss why that has not been the case and why all the exciting diagnostic strategies published on a daily basis in peer-reviewed journals are not yet successful in reaching the market and being implemented in the clinical practice.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; biosensors; bottlenecks; nanodiagnostics; outbreaks; phases of test development; testing methods.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Visual description of the duration of the phases required to develop a rapid test for previous outbreaks (the dates refer to each phase thanks to a color code) (a) and of the current SARS-CoV-2 detection technologies (b). PCR, antigen, and serological tests with the respective criteria for results interpretation (T = test line, C = control line). The bottom plot gives an outlook of the infection progression and the phases in which each test result is more effective.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Examples of nano-biosensors for the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and published in 2020. (A) Electrochemical paper-based interdigitated device for N gene detection using graphene and AuNPs. Adapted with permission from ref (52). Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society. (B) Spike protein lateral flow device using AuNPs and glycan anchors. Adapted with permission from ref (53). Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society. (C) Colorimetric (plasmonic) viral RNA detection method with the use of DNA-functionalized AuNPs. Adapted with permission from ref (56). Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society. (D) Thermoplasmonic device for the detection of membrane, spike, and nucleocapsid protein genes with DNA immobilized on 2D nanoislands. Adapted with permission from ref (57). Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society. (E) Graphene-based FET for real-time immune-based spike protein detection. Adapted with permission from ref (58). Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society. (F) Multiplexed electrochemical detection on laser-engraved graphene electrodes. Adapted with permission from ref (60). Copyright © 2020 Elsevier. (G) CRISPR-based ultrasensitive fluorescent detection of two sites of the viral RNA genome. Adapted with permission under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License from ref (64). Copyright © 2020 Springer Nature.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Current development process of diagnostic devices with the phases from conception to the market launch and corresponding TRLs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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