Scientists have used nanopores (extremely small pores) and electrical current to devise a new method to identify viruses. The method will be a breakthrough in new, rapid and accurate tests for coronavirus disease (Covid-19), they claimed.
The study describing the new method has been published in the journal ACS Sensors.
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The study demonstrated a new system for identifying individual virus particles using an algorithm trained to detect changes in the current that passes through the silicon nanopores, according to the PTI news agency. The team of scientists includes those from Osaka University in Japan, he further reported.
The scientists used a layer of the silicon nitride compound, just 50 nanometers thick, with added nanopores for the study. The layer was suspended on a silicon wafer and when a voltage difference was applied to the solution on either side of the wafer, the ions travel through the nanopores in a process called electrophoresis.
According to the study, the movement of the ions can be monitored by the current they generate, and when a viral particle enters a nanopore, it blocks the passage of some of the ions, leading to a transient drop in current. Each dip reflects the physical properties of the particle, such as volume, surface charge and shape, the scientists said, adding that the method can be used to identify the type of virus.
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The research team combined the detection of single-particle nanopores with artificial intelligence to determine the identity of new samples and were able to achieve highly accurate identification of multiple viral species, PTI quoted the study’s lead author Makusu Tsutsui as saying. Coronaviruses, because of their pointed outer proteins, are especially well suited for this technique, the researchers said.
“This work will help with the development of a virus test kit that outperforms conventional viral inspection methods,” said Tomoji Kawai, another co-author of the study.
(with PTI inputs)
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