Recent progress on rapid diagnosis of COVID-19 by point-of-care testing platforms

Abstract

The outbreak of COVID-19 has drawn great attention around the world. SARS-CoV-2 is a highly infectious virus with occult transmission by many mutations and a long incubation period. In particular, the emergence of asymptomatic infections has made the epidemic even more severe. Therefore, early diagnosis and timely management of suspected cases are essential measures to control the spread of the virus. Developing simple, portable, and accurate diagnostic techniques for SARS-CoV-2 is the key to epidemic prevention. The advantages of point-of-care testing technology make it play an increasingly important role in viral detection and screening. This review summarizes the point-of-care testing platforms developed by nucleic acid detection, immunological detection, and nanomaterial-based biosensors detection. Furthermore, this paper provides a prospect for designing future highly accurate, cheap, and convenient SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic technology.

Keywords: Asymptomatic infection; Biosensors; COVID-19; Nucleic acid detection; Point-of-care testing platforms.

Graphical abstract

Fig. 1

Principle of nucleic acid amplification in point-of-care testing of SARS-CoV-2. Schematic diagram of RT-PCR (A), LAMP-PCR (B), RPA-PCR (C), NEAR-PCR (D), RCA-PCR (E), and CRISPR (F). Copied with permission [37,48]. Copyright 2022, Wiley.

Fig. 2

Rapid antigen and rapid antibody tests. Analytical workflow of rapid antigen/antibody test for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 viral antigens through lateral flow immunoassay. Copied with permission . Copyright 2022, Springer.

Fig. 3

(A)Triple-probe TDF dimer GFET sensor for SARS-CoV-2 RNA testing. Copied with permission . Copyright 2022, American Chemical Society. (B) A multi-antibodies transistor assay is developed for sensitive and highly precise antigen pool testing. Copied with permission . Copyright 2021, American Chemical Society.(C) SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid testing. Workflows for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid testing by GFETs. Copied with permission . Copyright 2022, Nature. (D) Nucleic acid assay by using a graphene field-effect transistor with Y-shaped DNA dual probes (Y-dual probes) Copied with permission . Copyright 2021, American Chemical Society.

Fig. 4

Schematic overview of the electrochemical capillary-flow immunoassay. (A) Exploded view. (B) Electrochemical immunoassay and detection mechanism. Copied with permission . Copyright 2021, American Chemical Society. (C, D) Schematic diagram of the synthesis of Nb₂C-SH QDs and construction of the Nb₂C-SH QD-based SPR aptasensor for detecting N-gene of SARS-CoV-2. Copied with permission . Copyright 2021, Springer. (E) An Overview of the proposed point-of-care, aptamer-based COVID-19 assay. Copied with permission . Copyright 2020, Elsevier.

Fig. 5

Expecting on development the epidemic information technology for precise public health surveillance.