Portable Tools for COVID-19 Point-of-Care Detection: A Review

IEEE Sens J. 2021 Sep 7;21(21):23737-23750. doi: 10.1109/JSEN.2021.3110857. eCollection 2021 Nov 1.

Abstract

Recently, several methods for SARS-CoV-2 detection have been developed to obtain rapid, portable, cheap, and easy-to-use diagnostic tools. This review paper summarizes and discusses studies on the development of point-of-care devices for SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis with comparisons between them from several aspects. Various detection methods of the recently developed portable COVID-19 biosensor will be presented in this review. The discussion is divided into four major classifications based on the target biomarkers of SARS-CoV-2, such as antibodies, nucleic acids, antigens, and metabolic products. An overview of the potential development for future study is also provided. Moreover, basic knowledge of biosensors is also explained for tutoring the implementation of theory into the research of COVID-19 biosensors. This review paper is aimed to provide a tutorial by collecting the information on the development of a point-of-care device for SARS-CoV-2 detection to provide information for further research and propose the new COVID-19 portable diagnostic tool.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; antibody-based tests; antigen-based tests; biosensor; electronic nose; electronic tongue; nucleic acid-based tests; point-of-care device.

Grants and funding

This work was supported in part by the Swiss German University Central Research Fund under Grant 24/CRF/LGL-ARCS/IX/2020.