RAPID: Plasmonic Optoelectronic Immunosensing for Point-Of-Care Virus Infection Screening

Engineering - The timely screening and quarantining of SARS-CoV-2 virus carriers are extremely critical to prevent the aggressive COVID-19 transmission. Motivated by the urgent need of rapid, sensitive, and reliable tests of coronavirus infection, this project aims to deliver a handheld diagnostic module for direct detection of the virus without complex and time-consuming nucleic acid amplification process. The battery-operated portable system can be broadly deployed in various locations (e.g., a port of entry, remote clinic, drive-through test center, etc.). The smartphone-connected module is designed to enable wireless cloud data collection/sharing to track the locations and numbers of infection outbreaks for epidemiological surveys and alerts. Additionally, this biosensor module can be readily adapted for screening other viral species in future epidemics.

This innovative technology strategically integrates plasmonic biosensing and ultralow-noise photodetection to enable rapid, ultra-sensitive colorimetric detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus and its structural proteins using a disposable microfluidic chip. The specific aims of this project are (1) synthesis of novel antibody- or aptamer-conjugated nanoprobe materials for plasmonic biosensing, (2) nanofabrication of 2D transition metal dichalcogenide photodetectors for low-power, ultralow-noise near-infrared optical signal detection, (3) development of theoretical kinetic model and fundamental understanding of scientific principles that lead to an optimal transient response of the nanoprobe assay, and (4) system integration of biosensor components.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.