Infrared Based Saliva Screening Test for COVID-19

Bayden R Wood; Kamila Kochan; Diana E Bedolla; Natalia Salazar-Quiroz; Samantha L Grimley; David Perez-Guaita; Matthew J Baker; Jitraporn Vongsvivut; Mark J Tobin; Keith R Bambery; Dale Christensen; Shivani Pasricha; Anthony K Eden; Aaron Mclean; Supti Roy; Jason A Roberts; Julian Druce; Deborah A Williamson; Julie McAuley; Mike Catton; Damian F J Purcell; Dale I Godfrey; Philip Heraud

doi:10.1002/anie.202104453

Infrared Based Saliva Screening Test for COVID-19

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2021 Jul 26;60(31):17102-17107. doi: 10.1002/anie.202104453. Epub 2021 Jun 29.

Authors

Bayden R Wood^{1

2}, Kamila Kochan¹, Diana E Bedolla^{1

3

4}, Natalia Salazar-Quiroz⁵, Samantha L Grimley⁵, David Perez-Guaita^{1

6

7}, Matthew J Baker⁸, Jitraporn Vongsvivut⁹, Mark J Tobin⁹, Keith R Bambery⁹, Dale Christensen⁹, Shivani Pasricha⁵, Anthony K Eden¹, Aaron Mclean¹, Supti Roy¹, Jason A Roberts¹⁰, Julian Druce¹⁰, Deborah A Williamson^{5

11}, Julie McAuley⁵, Mike Catton¹⁰, Damian F J Purcell⁵, Dale I Godfrey^{2

5}, Philip Heraud^{1

2

12}

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Biospectroscopy and School of Chemistry, Monash University, Clayton Campus, 3800, Victoria, Australia.
² Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Advanced Molecular Imaging, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia.
³ Area Science Park, Padriciano 99, 34149, Trieste, Italy.
⁴ Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste, S.S. 14 Km 163.5, 34149, Trieste, Italy.
⁵ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
⁶ FOCAS Research Institute, Dublin Institute of Technology, D04, Dublin, Ireland.
⁷ Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Valencia, 50 Dr. Moliner Street, Research Building, 46100, Burjassot Valencia, Spain.
⁸ Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, University of Strathclyde, Technology and Innovation Centre Level 7, 99 George Street, Glasgow, G1 1RD, Scotland, UK.
⁹ ANSTO - Australian Synchrotron, 800 Blackburn Road, Clayton, Victoria, 3168, Australia.
¹⁰ Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Vic, Australia.
¹¹ Department of Microbiology, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
¹² Department of Microbiology and the Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia.

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in an unprecedented need for diagnostic testing that is critical in controlling the spread of COVID-19. We propose a portable infrared spectrometer with purpose-built transflection accessory for rapid point-of-care detection of COVID-19 markers in saliva. Initially, purified virion particles were characterized with Raman spectroscopy, synchrotron infrared (IR) and AFM-IR. A data set comprising 171 transflection infrared spectra from 29 subjects testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-qPCR and 28 testing negative, was modeled using Monte Carlo Double Cross Validation with 50 randomized test and model sets. The testing sensitivity was 93 % (27/29) with a specificity of 82 % (23/28) that included positive samples on the limit of detection for RT-qPCR. Herein, we demonstrate a proof-of-concept high throughput infrared COVID-19 test that is rapid, inexpensive, portable and utilizes sample self-collection thus minimizing the risk to healthcare workers and ideally suited to mass screening.

Keywords: COVID-19 diagnostic; Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy; Raman spectroscopy; SARS-CoV-2; saliva.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
COVID-19 / diagnosis*
COVID-19 Testing / methods*
Chlorocebus aethiops
Cohort Studies
Discriminant Analysis
Humans
Least-Squares Analysis
Monte Carlo Method
Point-of-Care Testing
Proof of Concept Study
SARS-CoV-2
Saliva / chemistry*
Sensitivity and Specificity
Specimen Handling
Spectrophotometry, Infrared
Vero Cells

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding