Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, United States.
Department of Immunobiology and the University of Arizona Center on Aging, The University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson, Tucson, AZ, 85724, United States.
Biosens Bioelectron. 2022 Mar 15;200:113912. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2021.113912. Epub 2021 Dec 24.
SARS, a new type of respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV, was identified in 2003 with significant levels of morbidity and mortality. The recent pandemic of COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has generated even greater extents of morbidity and mortality across the entire world. Both SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 spreads through the air in the form of droplets and potentially smaller droplets (aerosols) via exhaling, coughing, and sneezing. Direct detection from such airborne droplets would be ideal for protecting general public from potential exposure before they infect individuals. However, the number of viruses in such droplets and aerosols is too low to be detected directly. A separate air sampler and enough collection time (several hours) are necessary to capture a sufficient number of viruses. In this work, we have demonstrated the direct capture of the airborne droplets on the paper microfluidic chip without the need for any other equipment. 10% human saliva samples were spiked with the known concentration of SARS-CoV-2 and sprayed to generate liquid droplets and aerosols into the air. Antibody-conjugated submicron particle suspension is then added to the paper channel, and a smartphone-based fluorescence microscope isolated and counted the immunoagglutinated particles on the paper chip. The total capture-to-assay time was <30 min, compared to several hours with the other methods. In this manner, SARS-CoV-2 could be detected directly from the air in a handheld and low-cost manner, contributing to slowing the spread of SARS-CoV-2. We can presumably adapt this technology to a wide range of other respiratory viruses.
严重急性呼吸综合征（SARS）是一种由 SARS-CoV 引起的新型呼吸道疾病，于 2003 年被确认，其发病率和死亡率均较高。最近由 SARS-CoV-2 引起的 COVID-19 大流行在全球范围内造成了更大程度的发病率和死亡率。SARS-CoV 和 SARS-CoV-2 均通过呼出、咳嗽和打喷嚏以飞沫和潜在更小的飞沫（气溶胶）的形式在空气中传播。直接从这些空气中的飞沫中检测到的病毒将是保护公众免受潜在暴露的理想方法，以防他们感染个体。然而，飞沫和气溶胶中的病毒数量太低，无法直接检测到。需要单独的空气采样器和足够的采集时间（数小时）来捕获足够数量的病毒。在这项工作中，我们展示了无需任何其他设备即可直接在纸质微流控芯片上捕获空气中的飞沫。将已知浓度的 SARS-CoV-2 加入 10%的人唾液样本中，并喷洒以将液体飞沫和气溶胶生成到空气中。然后将抗体偶联的亚微米颗粒悬浮液添加到纸通道中，并使用基于智能手机的荧光显微镜分离并计数纸芯片上免疫凝聚的颗粒。与其他方法相比，总捕获-检测时间<30 分钟，而其他方法需要数小时。通过这种方式，可以以手持和低成本的方式直接从空气中检测到 SARS-CoV-2，有助于减缓 SARS-CoV-2 的传播。我们可以推测将这项技术应用于广泛的其他呼吸道病毒。
