Paper-based electrochemical biosensor for diagnosing COVID-19: Detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and antigen

March 15, 2021

Yakoh A, Pimpitak U, Rengpipat S, Hirankarn N, Chailapakul O, Chaiyo S.

Biosens Bioelectron

Yakoh et al address the need for more rapid accurate testing devices to be used in the field as a complement to the most common testing method, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). In this study, the researchers created a highly sensitive immunosensor (ePAD) to detect SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using a new paper-based method of electrochemical potential corresponding to the presence of antibodies. The COVID19 ePAD employs a disruption of the redox conversion triggered by immunocomplex formation of captured immunoglobulins produced in humans in response to SARS-COV-2. Results were recorded in 30 minutes and had a significantly higher sensitivity than other lateral flow immunoassay (LFA) platforms used to detect the presence of antibodies. However, the detection limit has not yet achieved similar levels of real nasal swab specimens (n=17) collected in the study. In the future, the team proposes extending the project to include antigen detection to allow for new possibilities diagnosing COVID-19.

Yakoh A, Pimpitak U, Rengpipat S, Hirankarn N, Chailapakul O, Chaiyo S. Paper-based electrochemical biosensor for diagnosing COVID-19: Detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and antigen. Biosens Bioelectron. 2021 Mar 15;176:112912. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2020.112912. Epub 2020 Dec 17. PMID: 33358057; PMCID: PMC7746088.

Related Articles

Partners