Low -Cost and Portable Plasmonic Biosensor for Label -Free Detection of Viruses in Resource -Limited Settings

The development of rapid diagnostic kits is critical for the early diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. in this study, a lightweight and field -portable biosensor that uses a plasmonic chip based on nanohole arrays integrated into a lens-free inilt-tgrilg, framework was presentM for label -free virus detection in field settings. A high-efficiency CMOS camera was used in the biosensor platform to observe the diffraction field patterns of nanohole arrays under uniform illumination from a spectrally-tuned LED source, which is specifically configured to excite the plasmonic mode supported by the nanohole arrays. The portable biosensor presented reliable label-free detection of H1N1 viruses and produced accurate results at medically relevant concentrations. A low-cost and user-friendly sample preparation kit was developed in order to prepare the surface of the plasmonic chip for analyte bindittg e.g., virus -antibody birtding. A Python-based graphical user interface ((:UD was also developed to make it easy for the user to access the biosensor hardware, capture and process diffraction field images, and present virus information to the end-user. The portable biosensor platform employs nanohole arrays and lens -free imaging 14 highly sensitive virus detection with an LOD of 10(3) TCID50/mL. It is accurate and efficient, snaking it suitable for diagnostic use in resource-limited settings where access to advanced equipment may be limited. The presented platform technology could quickly adapt to capture and detect other different viral diseases, e.g., COVID-19 or influenza by simply coating the plasmonic chip surface with art antibody possessing affinity to the virus type of interest.