(157g) Electrochemical ELISA Biosensor for SARS-COV-2 Nucleocapsid Detection

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented demand for detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in infected individuals. The gold standard of detection includes PCR testing as well as lateral-flow tests. However, PCR testing is a costly technique due to the necessary lab instrumentation and also requires a high level of training. Rapid antigen tests are quick and inexpensive but suffer from a high number of false positives. In recent years, electrochemical techniques have gained interest within the biosensor community due to their sensitivity, relative low-cost, and selectivity. Handheld potentiostats allow the user to perform a multitude of different measurements at low cost and in non-laboratory settings. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) are a sensitive and selective technique currently used for colorimetric measurements to detect viral proteins. Due to the low cost of handheld potentiostats, ELISAs can be adapted to use electrochemical measurements for cheaper operation. We created a low-cost and highly sensitive sandwich ELISA on commercially available screen-printed carbon electrodes. By utilizing chronoamperometry we were able to detect the nucleocapsid protein (N-protein) of SARS-COV-2 via current and charge changes in the system.