Abstract
Biosensors and nanoscale analytical tools have shown huge growth in literature in the past 20 years, with a large number of reports on the topic of ‘ultrasensitive’, ‘cost-effective’, and ‘early detection’ tools with a potential of ‘mass-production’ cited on the web of science. Yet none of these tools are commercially available in the market or practically viable for mass production and use in pandemic diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this context, we review the technological challenges and opportunities of current bio/chemical sensors and analytical tools by critically analyzing the bottlenecks which have hindered the implementation of advanced sensing technologies in pandemic diseases. We also describe in brief COVID-19 by comparing it with other pandemic strains such as that of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) for the identification of features that enable biosensing. Moreover, we discuss visualization and characterization tools that can potentially be used not only for sensing applications but also to assist in speeding up the drug discovery and vaccine development process. Furthermore, we discuss the emerging monitoring mechanism, namely wastewater-based epidemiology, for early warning of the outbreak, focusing on sensors for rapid and on-site analysis of SARS-CoV2 in sewage. To conclude, we provide holistic insights into challenges associated with the quick translation of sensing technologies, policies, ethical issues, technology adoption, and an overall outlook of the role of the sensing technologies in pandemics.
Highlights
Biosensors and nanoscale analytical tools have shown huge growth in literature in the past 20 years, with a large number of reports on the topic of ‘ultrasensitive’, ‘cost-effective’, and ‘early detection’ tools with a potential of ‘massproduction’ cited on the web of science
COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV2) virus, which was actively revealed in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and later sequenced in January 2020.1,2 In just a period of 2 months (March 2020), the disease had spread to 90% of the countries on our planet
Biosensors and nanoscale visualization/characterization tools can be considered as innovative and promising tools that can lead to life saving decisions on treatment and a deep understanding of pandemic strains
Summary
There are 11 key attributes (Figure 5): High selectivity: Selectivity of a biosensor is its ability to exclusively detect the analyte in the presence of other homologous analytes and contaminants. Among the 11 key attributes discussed above, the most important focus of current biosensing innovations should be the sensitivity and specificity of the assays directed toward early detection of COVID-19 disease or future pandemic strains This is necessary to overcome the uncertainty associated with a wide variety of advanced testing technology including lateral flow assays or direct detection of viral RNA with CRISPR biosensors.[136] Repurposing some of the instrumentation such as the 96-well microtiter plate readers could potentially provide multiple replicates of a bioassay in a short duration of time. While many of the developed plasmonic techniques with advanced surface chemistry provide high sensitivity, selectivity, and quick response time for the detection of the viral strains, their use in point-of-care applications remains challenging This is due to the large size and cost of the instrumentation which is involved in the development of plasmonic systems. The special resolution of the imaging platform is
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
