Virus Counter: Rapid and Sensitive Diagnostics Based on Digital Detection of Individual Pathogens

To help diversify the approaches that can be used to sensitively detect SARS-CoV-2 and improve response resilience, an established virus detection system that has already shown the ability to detect viruses such as Ebola and Marburg viruses were pivoted and a focused assay for SARS-CoV-2 was developed. In parallel, rapidly scalable sensor chips and an automated reader was prototyped to enable deployment of rapid and sensitive POC viral diagnostics assays based on a simple interferometric reflectance imaging sensor (IRIS) platform. The multiplexed and configurable assays using robust universal DNA functionalized sensor chips, proposed diagnostic was performed in the presence of influenza. A patient with flu-like symptoms could be diagnosed with flu or COVID-19, or both as feared that these infections can occur concurrently. The study also prototyped a high-throughput system that tests samples directly in microwell plates to run 2,000 tests/day per instrument.