A tablet-sized device has been developed that can detect multiple COVID-19 antibodies and biomarkers simultaneously.
Initial results show it can distinguish between antibodies produced in response to SARS-CoV-2 and four other coronaviruses with 100% accuracy. The team behind the device are now working to see if the point-of-care device can be used to predict the severity of a COVID-19 infection or a person’s immunity against variants of the virus.
Having also recently shown the same “D4 assay” platform can detect Ebola infections a day earlier than the gold standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, the researchers say the results show how flexible the technology can be.
The platform hinges on a polymer brush coating that stops anything but the desired biomarkers from attaching to the test slide when wet.
Image Credit | Duke University
