A high-throughput fully automatic biosensing platform for efficient COVID-19 detection

Guoguang Rong; Yuqiao Zheng; Xiangqing Li; Mengzhun Guo; Yi Su; Sumin Bian; Bobo Dang; Yin Chen; Yanjun Zhang; Linhai Shen; Hui Jin; Renhong Yan; Liaoyong Wen; Peixi Zhu; Mohamad Sawan

doi:10.1016/j.bios.2022.114861

A high-throughput fully automatic biosensing platform for efficient COVID-19 detection

Biosens Bioelectron. 2023 Jan 15:220:114861. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2022.114861. Epub 2022 Nov 3.

Authors

Guoguang Rong¹, Yuqiao Zheng¹, Xiangqing Li², Mengzhun Guo³, Yi Su¹, Sumin Bian¹, Bobo Dang³, Yin Chen⁴, Yanjun Zhang⁴, Linhai Shen⁵, Hui Jin⁵, Renhong Yan⁶, Liaoyong Wen², Peixi Zhu⁷, Mohamad Sawan⁸

Affiliations

¹ CenBRAIN Neurotech, School of Engineering, Westlake University, 600 Dunyu Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310030, China; School of Engineering, Westlake University, 600 Dunyu Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310030, China; Institute of Advanced Study, Westlake Institute for Advanced Study, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310024, China.
² School of Engineering, Westlake University, 600 Dunyu Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310030, China; Institute of Advanced Study, Westlake Institute for Advanced Study, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310024, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Structural Biology of Zhejiang Province, School of Life Sciences, Westlake, University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310030, China; Center for Infectious Disease Research, Westlake Laboratory of Life Sciences and Biomedicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310030, China; Institute of Biology, Westlake Institute for Advanced Study, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310030, China.
⁴ Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 3399 Binsheng Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310051, China.
⁵ Hangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 568 Mingshi Road, Jianggan District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310021, China.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Structural Biology of Zhejiang Province, School of Life Sciences, Westlake, University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310030, China; Center for Infectious Disease Research, Westlake Laboratory of Life Sciences and Biomedicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310030, China.
⁷ College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310014, China.
⁸ CenBRAIN Neurotech, School of Engineering, Westlake University, 600 Dunyu Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310030, China; School of Engineering, Westlake University, 600 Dunyu Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310030, China; Institute of Advanced Study, Westlake Institute for Advanced Study, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310024, China. Electronic address: sawan@westlake.edu.cn.

Abstract

We propose a label-free biosensor based on a porous silicon resonant microcavity and localized surface plasmon resonance. The biosensor detects SARS-CoV-2 antigen based on engineered trimeric angiotensin converting enzyme-2 binding protein, which is conserved across different variants. Robotic arms run the detection process including sample loading, incubation, sensor surface rinsing, and optical measurements using a portable spectrometer. Both the biosensor and the optical measurement system are readily scalable to accommodate testing a wide range of sample numbers. The limit of detection is 100 TCID_50/ml. The detection time is 5 min, and the throughput of one single robotic site is up to 384 specimens in 30 min. The measurement interface requires little training, has standard operation, and therefore is suitable for widespread use in rapid and onsite COVID-19 screening or surveillance.

Keywords: Automatic detection; Biosensor; COVID-19; High throughput; Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR); SARS-CoV-2.

MeSH terms

Biosensing Techniques*
COVID-19* / diagnosis
Humans
Optical Devices*
SARS-CoV-2
Surface Plasmon Resonance