Quantitative Spectrochip-Coupled Lateral Flow Immunoassay Demonstrates Clinical Potential for Overcoming Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic Screening Challenges

Hung, Kai-Feng; Hung, Chih-Hsing; Hong, Chitsung; Chen, Szu-Chia; Sun, Yi-Chen; Wen, Jyun-Wei; Kuo, Chao-Hung; Ko, Cheng-Hao; Cheng, Chao-Min

As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to spread around the world, the establishment of decentralized severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) diagnostics and point-of-care testing is invaluable. While polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been the gold standard for COVID-19 screening, serological assays detecting anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in response to past and/or current infection remain vital tools. In particular, lateral flow immunoassay devices are easy to produce, scale, distribute, and use; however, they are unable to provide quantitative information. To enable quantitative analysis of lateral flow immunoassay device results, microgating technology was used to develop an innovative spectrochip that can be integrated into a portable, palm-sized device that was capable of capturing high-resolution reflectance spectrum data for quantitative immunoassay diagnostics. Using predefined spiked concentrations of recombinant anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin G (IgG), this spectrochip-coupled immunoassay provided extraordinary sensitivity, with a detection limit as low as 186 pg/mL. Furthermore, this platform enabled the detection of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG in all PCR-confirmed patients as early as day 3 after symptom onset, including two patients whose spectrochip tests would be regarded as negative for COVID-19 using a direct visual read-out without spectral analysis. Therefore, the quantitative lateral flow immunoassay with an exceptionally low detection limit for SARS-CoV-2 is of value. An increase in the number of patients tested with this novel device may reveal its true clinical potential.