WEB DESK
A group of scientists has developed a sensor system that helps detect SARS-CoV2, the virus causing Covid-19 infections, within a second, much faster than current detection methods.
Detecting the presence of the virus requires amplifying the numbers of the biomarker, such as the copies of viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) in the common polymerase chain reaction technique for Covid-19 detection, or amplifying the binding signal for a target biomarker.
The sensor is similar to commercially available glucose test strips in shape, with a small microfluidic channel at the tip to introduce the test fluid.
“Within the microfluidic channel, a few electrodes are exposed to fluid. One is coated with gold, and Covid-relevant antibodies are attached to the gold surface via a chemical method,” said Minghan Xian, chemical engineering doctoral candidate at the University of Florida.
“This could alleviate slow Covid-19 testing turnaround time issues,” Xian added. The sensor system method is published in the Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B.