• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sensor Tips

Sensor Product News, Tips, and learning resources for the Design Engineering Professional.

  • What’s Hot
    • Development Tools
    • Energy Harvesting
    • Market Research
    • Packaging
    • Sensor Fusion
    • Sensor-specific software
    • Signal Conditioning
    • Touch Sensing
    • Wireless
  • Motion Sensing
  • Vision systems
    • Smart cameras
    • Vision software
    • Lighting
    • Optics
  • Pressure
  • Speed
  • Temperature
  • Suppliers
  • Video
  • EE Learning Center

Can a biosensor detect the COVID-19 virus in the environment?

May 19, 2020 By Randy Frank

Building on research for sensors to detect bacteria and viruses in the air, a team from Empa, ETH Zurich and Zurich University Hospital developed a biosensor to detect the new coronavirus (COVID-19). The sensor could be used measure the virus concentration in the air in real time in crowded locations such as train stations or hospitals.

The sensor is based on two-dimensional gold nanoislands (AuNIs) fabricated on a glass substrate. The detection technique uses artificially produced deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) receptors that match specific ribonucleic acid (RNA) sequences of the SARS-CoV-2 that are grafted onto the nanoislands. To improve sensing performance, thermoplasmonic heat is generated on the same AuNIs chip through illumination at their plasmonic resonance frequency.

The localized plasmonic photothermal (PPT) heat elevates the in situ hybridization temperature and facilitates the accurate discrimination of two similar gene sequences. As a result, the dual-functional localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) biosensor exhibits a high sensitivity to selected SARS-CoV-2 sequences with a lower detection limit down to the molecular concentration of 0.22 picomolar (pM).

To determine the capability of the sensor to detect the COVID-19 virus, researchers tested it with a closely related virus SARS-CoV, the 2003 virus that triggered the SARS pandemic. While SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV2 differ only slightly in their RNA, testing showed that the sensor can effectively distinguish between the very similar RNA sequences of the two viruses.

Further work required to have a functioning test unit include a system to draw in the air, concentrate the aerosols in the air and release the RNA from the viruses.

Filed Under: Biosensor, Featured, Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) Tagged With: empa

Primary Sidebar

DesignFast

Component Selection Made Simple.

Try it Today
design fast globle

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Randy Frank delivers weekly sensor industry news, sensor resources, new sensor product innovations and more.

Subscribe Today

EE TRAINING CENTER CLASSROOMS

“ee

“ee

“ee

“ee

“ee

RSS Current EDABoard.com discussions

  • Sine Wave Generation with SPI and TIM interrupt in STM32
  • Can i store data with variable length in a RAM in VHDL ?
  • Upconverting a 20 GHz signal to 28 GHz
  • IMPACT : Can't open /dev/parport0: No such file or directory
  • Asynchronous Motor Control

RSS Current Electro-Tech-Online.com Discussions

  • Multiple UART Hub to USB?
  • What has happened to EEVBLOG videos?
  • Basic Power Electronics Question
  • CD4026BE DIP CD4026 Fake or ???
  • QA pass


SensorTips Videos

RSS Featured White Papers

  • Implementing Position Sensors for Hazardous Areas & Safety
  • How New Rotary Sensor Technology Enables New Application Solutions
  • Magnetic sensor ensures safety features in depaneling machines

Follow us on Twitter

Tweets by SensorTips

Footer

EE WORLD ONLINE NETWORK

  • DesignFast
  • EE World Online
  • EDA Board Forums
  • Electro Tech Online Forums
  • Microcontroller Tips
  • Analog IC Tips
  • Connector Tips
  • Power Electronic Tips
  • Test and Measurement Tips
  • Wire and Cable Tips
  • 5G Technology World

SENSOR TIPS

  • Subscribe to our newsletter
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us
  • About us
Follow us on TwitterAdd us on FacebookFollow us on YouTube Follow us on Instagram

Copyright © 2021 · WTWH Media LLC and its licensors. All rights reserved.
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media.

Privacy Policy