Sustainable materials and COVID-19 detection biosensor: A brief review

Biosensors for Public Health and Environmental Monitoring: The Case for Sustainable Biosensing

Climate change is a profound crisis that affects every aspect of life, including public health. Changes in environmental conditions can promote the spread of pathogens and the development of new mutants and strains. Early detection is essential in managing and controlling this spread and improving overall health outcomes. This perspective article introduces basic biosensing concepts and various biosensors, including electrochemical, optical, mass-based, nano biosensors, and single-molecule biosensors, as important sustainability and public health preventive tools. The discussion also includes how the sustainability of a biosensor is crucial to minimizing environmental impacts and ensuring the long-term availability of vital technologies and resources for healthcare, environmental monitoring, and beyond. One promising avenue for pathogen screening could be the electrical detection of biomolecules at the single-molecule level, and some recent developments based on single-molecule bioelectronics using the Scanning Tunneling Microscopy-assisted break junctions (STM-BJ) technique are shown here. Using this technique, biomolecules can be detected with high sensitivity, eliminating the need for amplification and cell culture steps, thereby enhancing speed and efficiency. Furthermore, the STM-BJ technique demonstrates exceptional specificity, accurately detects single-base mismatches, and exhibits a detection limit essentially at the level of individual biomolecules. Finally, a case is made here for sustainable biosensors, how they can help, the paradigm shift needed to achieve them, and some potential applications.

Silicon Microring Resonator Biosensor for Detection of Nucleocapsid Protein of SARS-CoV-2

A high-sensitivity silicon microring (Si MRR) optical biosensor for detecting the nucleocapsid protein of SARS-CoV-2 is proposed and demonstrated. In the proposed biosensor, the surface of a Si MRR waveguide is modified with antibodies, and the target protein is detected by measuring a resonant wavelength shift of the MRR caused by the selective adsorption of the protein to the surface of the waveguide. A Si MRR is fabricated on a silicon-on-insulator substrate using a CMOS-compatible fabrication process. The quality factor of the MRR is approximately 20,000. The resonant wavelength shift of the MRR and the detection limit for the environmental refractive index change are evaluated to be 89 nm/refractive index unit (RIU) and 10-4 RIU, respectively. The sensing characteristics are examined using a polydimethylsiloxane flow channel after the surface of the Si MRR waveguide is modified with the IgG antibodies through the Si-tagged protein. First, the selective detection of the protein by the MRR sensor is experimentally demonstrated by the detection of bovine serum albumin and human serum albumin. Next, various concentrations of nucleocapsid protein solutions are measured by the MRR, in which the waveguide surface is modified with the IgG antibodies through the Si-tagged protein. Although the experimental results are very preliminary, they show that the proposed sensor has a potential nucleocapsid sensitivity in the order of 10 pg/mL, which is comparable to the sensitivity of current antigen tests. The detection time is less than 10 min, which is much shorter than those of other antigen tests.

Advancement in Biosensor Technologies of 2D MaterialIntegrated with Cellulose-Physical Properties

This review paper provides an in-depth analysis of recent advancements in integrating two-dimensional (2D) materials with cellulose to enhance biosensing technology. The incorporation of 2D materials such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides, along with nanocellulose, improves the sensitivity, stability, and flexibility of biosensors. Practical applications of these advanced biosensors are explored in fields like medical diagnostics and environmental monitoring. This innovative approach is driving research opportunities and expanding the possibilities for diverse applications in this rapidly evolving field.

Graphene-based biosensors for detecting coronavirus: a brief review

The coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) disease has affected the globe with 770 437 327 confirmed cases, including about 6 956 900 deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) as of September 2023. Hence, it is imperative to develop diagnostic technologies, such as a rapid cost-effective SARS-CoV-2 detection method. A typical biosensor enables biomolecule detection with an appropriate transducer by generating a measurable signal from the sample. Graphene can be employed as a component for ultrasensitive and selective biosensors based on its physical, optical, and electrochemical properties. Herein, we briefly review graphene-based electrochemical, field-effect transistor (FET), and surface plasmon biosensors for detecting the SARS-CoV-2 target. In addition, details on the surface modification, immobilization, sensitivity and limit of detection (LOD) of all three sensors with regard to SARS-CoV-2 were reported. Finally, the point-of-care (POC) detection of SARS-CoV-2 using a portable smartphone and a wearable watch is a current topic of interest.

Impact of nanotechnology on conventional and artificial intelligence-based biosensing strategies for the detection of viruses

Recent years have witnessed the emergence of several viruses and other pathogens. Some of these infectious diseases have spread globally, resulting in pandemics. Although biosensors of various types have been utilized for virus detection, their limited sensitivity remains an issue. Therefore, the development of better diagnostic tools that facilitate the more efficient detection of viruses and other pathogens has become important. Nanotechnology has been recognized as a powerful tool for the detection of viruses, and it is expected to change the landscape of virus detection and analysis. Recently, nanomaterials have gained enormous attention for their value in improving biosensor performance owing to their high surface-to-volume ratio and quantum size effects. This article reviews the impact of nanotechnology on the design, development, and performance of sensors for the detection of viruses. Special attention has been paid to nanoscale materials, various types of nanobiosensors, the internet of medical things, and artificial intelligence-based viral diagnostic techniques.

Impedimetric Sensing: An Emerging Tool for Combating the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed a pressing need for the development of sensitive and low-cost point-of-care sensors for disease diagnosis. The current standard of care for COVID-19 is quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). This method is sensitive, but takes time, effort, and requires specialized equipment and reagents to be performed correctly. This make it unsuitable for widespread, rapid testing and causes poor individual and policy decision-making. Rapid antigen tests (RATs) are a widely used alternative that provide results quickly but have low sensitivity and are prone to false negatives, particularly in cases with lower viral burden. Electrochemical sensors have shown much promise in filling this technology gap, and impedance spectroscopy specifically has exciting potential in rapid screening of COVID-19. Due to the data-rich nature of impedance measurements performed at different frequencies, this method lends itself to machine-leaning (ML) algorithms for further data processing. This review summarizes the current state of impedance spectroscopy-based point-of-care sensors for the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This article also suggests future directions to address the technology's current limitations to move forward in this current pandemic and prepare for future outbreaks.

Korona Virüs Tanısı ve Biyosensörler

Hızla gelişen teknoloji dünyada dijitalleşme çağında laboratuvar tıbbının da bu gelişime ayak uydurarak sensör tabanlı ölçüm sistemlerinin kullanım alanları genişlemektedir. Biyosensörler kolay kullanımı, portatif olması, hızlı ve kesin sonuç vermesi gibi özelliklerinden dolayı salgın hastalık takibinde önemli rol oynayacaktır. Çin'in Wuhan şehrinde 2019 yılında ortaya çıkan korona virüs hastalığı pandemi haline dönüşmüştür. Pandeminin takibi ve kontrolü için tanı testleri geliştirilmesi ve tanı testlerinde kullanılacak örnek seçimi büyük önem kazanmıştır. Bu derlemede korona virüs hastalığının tanı ve takibinin günümüzde nasıl yapıldığı hakkında bilgi verip biyosensörlerin tanı ve takip amacıyla kullanılabilirliği hakkında bilgiler verilmektedir.

Diagnosis Methods for COVID-19: A Systematic Review

At the end of 2019, the coronavirus appeared and spread extremely rapidly, causing millions of infections and deaths worldwide, and becoming a global pandemic. For this reason, it became urgent and essential to find adequate tests for an accurate and fast diagnosis of this disease. In the present study, a systematic review was performed in order to provide an overview of the COVID-19 diagnosis methods and tests already available, as well as their evolution in recent months. For this purpose, the Science Direct, PubMed, and Scopus databases were used to collect the data and three authors independently screened the references, extracted the main information, and assessed the quality of the included studies. After the analysis of the collected data, 34 studies reporting new methods to diagnose COVID-19 were selected. Although RT-PCR is the gold-standard method for COVID-19 diagnosis, it cannot fulfill all the requirements of this pandemic, being limited by the need for highly specialized equipment and personnel to perform the assays, as well as the long time to get the test results. To fulfill the limitations of this method, other alternatives, including biological and imaging analysis methods, also became commonly reported. The comparison of the different diagnosis tests allowed to understand the importance and potential of combining different techniques, not only to improve diagnosis but also for a further understanding of the virus, the disease, and their implications in humans.