COVID severity test (CoST sensor)—An electrochemical immunosensing approach to stratify disease severity

Abstract

With the evolution of the COVID‐19 pandemic, there is now a need for point‐of‐care devices for the quantification of disease biomarkers toward disease severity assessment. Disease progression has been determined as a multifactor phenomenon and can be treated based on the host immune response within each individual. CoST is an electrochemical immunosensor point‐of‐care device that can determine disease severity through multiplex measurement and quantification of spike protein, nucleocapsid protein, D‐dimer, and IL‐2R from 100 μL of plasma samples within a few minutes. The limit of detection was found to be 3 ng/mL and 21 ng/mL for S and N proteins whereas for D‐dimer and IL‐2R it was 0.0006 ng/mL and 0.242 ng/mL, respectively. Cross‐reactivity of all the biomarkers was studied and it was found to be <20%. Inter and intra‐assay variability of the CoST sensor was less than <15% confirming its ability to detect the target biomarker in body fluids. In addition, this platform has also been tested to quantify all four biomarkers in 40 patient samples and to predict the severity index. A significant difference was observed between healthy and COVID‐19 samples with a p‐value of 0.0002 for D‐dimer and <0.0001 for other proteins confirming the ability of the COST sensor to be used as a point of care device to assess disease severity at clinical sites. This device platform can be modified to impact a wide range of disease indications where prognostic monitoring of the host response can be critical in modulating therapy.

Electroanalytical Platform for Rapid E. coli O157:H7 Detection in Water Samples

“…These results highlight the sensor platform’s remarkable level of specificity, indicating minimal cross-reactivity across varying concentrations of structurally similar pathogens. Such selectivity is paramount for ensuring the dependable detection of pathogens in real-world water samples, where the presence of diverse substances and potential contaminants can potentially complicate analytical processes [ 32 ]. The ability to distinguish between analytes of interest and cross-reactive antigens enhances the sensor platform’s utility and reliability in practical applications, emphasizing its potential for field deployment under varied environmental conditions.…”

Electrochemical Immunoassay for Capturing Capsular Polysaccharide of Burkholderia pseudomallei: Early Onsite Detection of Melioidosis

“…Impedance spectroscopy is a particularly useful nonfaradaic sensing technique for detecting immunogenic molecules in biological fluids. Electrochemical sensors are highly specific due to the use of biological capturing molecules such as enzymes, antibodies, and aptamers for targeted detection in protein-rich environments, such as plasma and serum samples. − In the present study, we aimed to investigate the application of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy for the effective detection of CPS molecules in human serum and urine biofluids for rapid melioidosis diagnostics. This approach can further improve the biosensor’s ability by using a nanointerface on the electrode surface to immobilize a higher amount of antibodies on the sensor surface by increasing the surface-to-volume ratio of the working electrode.…”

“…37 Detection of COVID-19 in plasma samples based on the presence of spike and nucleocapsid proteins and estimating its severity based on D-dimer and IL-2R was reported by our group. 30 This confirms that the READ platform could be used as a diagnostic platform to identify infections in body fluids.…”