Rapid assays of SARS-CoV-2 virus and noble biosensors by nanomaterials

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak caused by SARS-CoV-2 in late 2019 has spread rapidly across the world to form a global epidemic of respiratory infectious diseases. Increased investigations on diagnostic tools are currently implemented to assist rapid identification of the virus because mass and rapid diagnosis might be the best way to prevent the outbreak of the virus. This critical review discusses the detection principles, fabrication techniques, and applications on the rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 with three categories: rapid nuclear acid augmentation test, rapid immunoassay test and biosensors. Special efforts were put on enhancement of nanomaterials on biosensors for rapid, sensitive, and low-cost diagnostics of SARS-CoV-2 virus. Future developments are suggested regarding potential candidates in hospitals, clinics and laboratories for control and prevention of large-scale epidemic.

Keywords: Biosensors; Nanomaterials; Rapid assays; SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Fig. 1

The pie chart of database “Web of Science” was used to analyze recent articles with the theme of rapid detection of COVID-19 and the search results with the keywords “biosensors”, “nanoparticles” and “PCR”

Fig. 2

Title and keyword analysis of articles on the topic of rapid detection of COVID-19 in the database “Web of Science”

Fig. 3

The types and methods of rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 and the average detection time required for each method

Fig. 4

Biological structure and of the SARS-CoV-2 and enhanced biosensor by nanomaterials. a Reprinted with permission from ref. . Copyright 2022 Elsevier. b Reprinted with permission from ref. . Copyright 2022 American Chemical Society. c Reprinted with permission from ref. . Copyright 2022 Royal Society of Chemistry. d Reprinted with permission from ref. . Copyright 2022 John Wiley and Sons. e Reprinted with permission from ref. . Copyright 2022 American Chemical Society. f Reprinted with permission from ref. . Copyright 2022 Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute. g Reprinted with permission from ref . Copyright 2022 American Chemical Society. h Reprinted with permission from ref . Copyright 2022 Elsevier. i Reprinted with permission from ref. . Copyright 2022 Elsevier. j Reprinted with permission from ref . Copyright 2022 Elsevier. k Reprinted with permission from ref . Copyright 2021 Springer Link. l Reprinted with permission from ref . Copyright 2022 Elsevier

Fig. 5

Different methods for nucleic acid amplification experiments

Fig. 6

Schematics of a typical LIFA for COVID-19 diagnostics. a Components of a LIFA test kit. b Detection principles of Ag test and Ab tests. c Mechanisms for the functioning of LFIA. Reprinted with permission from ref . Copyright 2022 Royal Society of Chemistry

Fig. 7

Biosensor platforms for detection of SARS-CoV-2. a Biosensors for Ag and Ab detection. b One electrochemical biosensor for RNA detection. c One colorimetric biosensor for RNA detection