Simulation of Delta and Omicron Variants Detection Using Surface Plasmon Resonance Based on Kretschmann-Raether Configuration

Abstract

COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 has been mutated and emerged into different types of variants. Delta and Omicron variants remained as variants of concern as the Delta variant severely infects the unvaccinated individual, while the Omicron variant is the dominant variant circulating globally. Therefore, it is vital to identify these variantsby developing a simpler method that detects both variants based on the antibody-antigen interactions. The Surface Plasm on Resonance (SPR) sensor based on the Kretschmann-Raether configuration provides label-free detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants by the antibody-antigen interaction. However, to date, there is no multiple SARS-CoV-2variants detection methods have been implemented using SPR sensors based on the Kretschmann-Raether configuration. Therefore, this study is carried out to design anPR sensor based on the Kretschmann-Raether configuration and to simulate the detection of these variants by this sensor using COMSOL Multiphysics software. In this study, an SPR sensor was designed with two detecting cells named Cell 1 and Cell 2, where each cell contains a 2E8 monoclona antibody and COV2-06 monoclonal antibody respectively. The results show that the designed SPR sensor can distinguish and detect the Delta and Omicron variants successfully based on the antibody-antigen interaction with the sensitivities of 3.3968 deg RIU−1 for Cell 1 and 4.5803 deg RIU−1 for Cell 2. Therefore, this SPR sensor based on the Kretschmann-Raether configuration could be a potential alternative tool for currently available multiple SARS CoV2 variants detection methods as it provides label-free detection that is based on antigen-antibody interaction.