Electrochemical Biosensors for the Detection of SARS-CoV-2 and Other Viruses

Abstract

The last few decades have been plagued by viral outbreaks that present some of the biggest challenges to public safety. The current coronavirus (COVID-19) disease pandemic has exponentiated these concerns. Increased research on diagnostic tools is currently being implemented in order to assist with rapid identification of the virus, as mass diagnosis and containment is the best way to prevent the outbreak of the virus. Accordingly, there is a growing urgency to establish a point-of-care device for the rapid detection of coronavirus to prevent subsequent spread. This device needs to be sensitive, selective, and exhibit rapid diagnostic capabilities. Electrochemical biosensors have demonstrated these traits and, hence, serve as promising candidates for the detection of viruses. This review summarizes the designs and features of electrochemical biosensors developed for some past and current pandemic or epidemic viruses, including influenza, HIV, Ebola, and Zika. Alongside the design, this review also discusses the detection principles, fabrication techniques, and applications of the biosensors. Finally, research and perspective of biosensors as potential detection tools for the rapid identification of SARS-CoV-2 is discussed.

A comprehensive review on current COVID-19 detection methods: From lab care to point of care diagnosis

“…HRP (Horseradish Peroxide) is a commonly used enzyme in a sensor like this [ 92 ]. Various factors influence the performance of enzyme-based biosensors such as medium pH, temperature, cofactor, etc [ 93 ]. In affinity-based sensors, the utilization of enzymes is very common.…”

“…Other than traditional ELISA, diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 very much rely on enzyme-labeled antibodies that mediate signal generation and amplification for selective identification. Due to high catalytic efficiency and specificity towards analyte identification, enzyme-based biosensors conceived an extensive usage in biosensors [ 93 ]. The antibody-tagged specific enzyme has a set of substrates or particular substrates to catalyze and different detection methods can be engrossed for detection of the catalyzed product ( Fig 12 ).…”

“…Such as in a recent publish electrochemical detection of SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein employed alkaline phosphatase enzyme tagged secondary antibody to catalyze 1 naphthyl phosphate substrate on the surface of a screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) [ 94 ]. However, due to the instability of enzymes depending on the environmental condition, nanotechnology stole the limelight in biosensor design [ 93 , 141 ]. Above all of that, the capacity to work with small sample volume, sensor robustness, and high substrate specificity will always employ enzymes as across-the-board sensing elements [ 93 ].…”

“…However, due to the instability of enzymes depending on the environmental condition, nanotechnology stole the limelight in biosensor design [ 93 , 141 ]. Above all of that, the capacity to work with small sample volume, sensor robustness, and high substrate specificity will always employ enzymes as across-the-board sensing elements [ 93 ]. Various advantages and disadvantages of the enzyme-based biosensor are listed in SWOT 6 in consequence of COVID-19 diagnosis.…”

COVID-19 Biomarkers and Advanced Sensing Technologies for Point-of-Care (POC) Diagnosis

“…The major drawback of this detection method is its limitation on the size as it typically works for high molecular weight analytes since it reduces the oscillation frequency. Various types of anisotropic materials help in sensing, for example, aluminum nitride, zinc oxide, barium titanate, lead titanate, quartz, and poly (vinylidene fluoride) [129,130]. The first piezoelectric immunosensor was able to detect the coronavirus in sputum.…”