São Carlos Institute of Chemistry, University of São Paulo, São Carlos 13560-970, São Paulo, Brazil.
São Carlos Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, São Carlos 13560-590, São Paulo, Brazil.
ACS Sens. 2020 Dec 24;5(12):3655-3677. doi: 10.1021/acssensors.0c01382. Epub 2020 Dec 3.
Diagnosis of COVID-19 has been challenging owing to the need for mass testing and for combining distinct types of detection to cover the different stages of the infection. In this review, we have surveyed the most used methodologies for diagnosis of COVID-19, which can be basically categorized into genetic-material detection and immunoassays. Detection of genetic material with real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and similar techniques has been achieved with high accuracy, but these methods are expensive and require time-consuming protocols which are not widely available, especially in less developed countries. Immunoassays for detecting a few antibodies, on the other hand, have been used for rapid, less expensive tests, but their accuracy in diagnosing infected individuals has been limited. We have therefore discussed the strengths and limitations of all of these methodologies, particularly in light of the required combination of tests owing to the long incubation periods. We identified the bottlenecks that prevented mass testing in many countries, and proposed strategies for further action, which are mostly associated with materials science and chemistry. Of special relevance are the methodologies which can be integrated into point-of-care (POC) devices and the use of artificial intelligence that do not require products from a well-developed biotech industry.
由于需要大规模检测以及结合不同类型的检测来覆盖感染的不同阶段，因此 COVID-19 的诊断具有挑战性。在这篇综述中，我们调查了用于 COVID-19 诊断的最常用方法，这些方法基本上可以分为遗传物质检测和免疫测定。通过实时聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）和类似技术检测遗传物质已具有很高的准确性，但这些方法昂贵，并且需要耗时的协议，这些协议在发展中国家并不广泛使用。另一方面，用于检测少数几种抗体的免疫测定已用于快速、廉价的测试，但它们在诊断感染个体方面的准确性受到限制。因此，我们讨论了所有这些方法的优缺点，特别是鉴于由于潜伏期长而需要进行的联合测试。我们确定了许多国家阻止大规模检测的瓶颈，并提出了进一步行动的策略，这些策略主要与材料科学和化学有关。特别相关的是可以集成到即时检测（POC）设备中的方法和使用人工智能的方法，这些方法不需要来自发达的生物技术产业的产品。
