Smartphone-based point-of-care testing of the SARS-CoV-2: A systematic review

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus's worldwide pan-demic has highlighted the urgent need for reliable, quick, and affordable diagnostic tests for comprehending and controlling the epidemic by tracking the world population. Given how crucial it is to monitor and manage the pandemic, researchers have recently concen-trated on creating quick detection techniques. Although PCR is still the preferred clinical diagnostic test, there is a pressing need for substitutes that are sufficiently rapid and cost-effective to provide a diagnosis at the time of use. The creation of a quick and simple POC equipment is necessary for home testing. Our review's goal is to provide an overview of the many methods utilized to identify SARS-CoV 2 in various samples utilizing portable devices, as well as any potential applications for smartphones in epidemiological research and detection. The point of care (POC) employs a range of microfluidic biosensors based on smartphones, including molecular sensors, immunological biosensors, hybrid biosensors, and imaging biosensors. For example, a number of tools have been created for the diag-nosis of COVID-19, based on various theories. Integrated portable devices can be created using loop-mediated isothermal amplification, which combines isothermal amplification methods with colorimetric detection. Electrochemical approaches have been regarded as a potential substitute for optical sensing techniques that utilize fluorescence for detection and as being more beneficial to the Minimizing and simplicity of the tools used for de-tection, together with techniques that can amplify DNA or RNA under constant tempera-ture conditions, without the need for repeated heating and cooling cycles. Many research have used smartphones for virus detection and data visualization, making these techniques more user-friendly and broadly distributed throughout nations. Overall, our research pro-vides a review of different novel, non-invasive, affordable, and efficient methods for iden-tifying COVID-19 contagious infected people and halting the disease's transmission.& COPY; 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ )

Automated summary

The global pandemic of SARS-CoV-2 has emphasized the urgent need for reliable, quick, and affordable diagnostic tests for understanding and controlling the epidemic. Researchers have focused on creating rapid detection techniques to monitor and manage the pandemic. While PCR is still the preferred clinical diagnostic test, there is a need for substitutes that can provide a diagnosis quickly and cost-effectively at the point of use. Our review aims to provide an overview of various methods used to identify SARS-CoV-2 using portable devices and the potential applications for smartphones in epidemiological research and detection.