Automated ELISA on-chip for the detection of an-ti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has been the most critical public health issue in modern his-tory due to its highly infectious and deathly potential; and the limited access to massive, low-cost, and reliable testing has significantly worsened the crisis. The recovery and the vaccination of millions of people against COVID-19, have made serological tests highly relevant to identify the presence and levels of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Due to its advantages, microfluidic-based technologies represent an attractive alternative to the conventional testing methodologies used for these purposes. In this work, we describe the development of an automated ELISA on-chip capable of detecting anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in serum samples from COVID-19 patients and vaccinated individuals. The colorimetric reactions were analyzed with a microplate reader. No statistically significant differences were observed when comparing the results of our automated ELISA on-chip against the ones obtained from a traditional ELISA on a microplate. Moreover, we demonstrated that it is possible to carry out the analysis of the colorimetric reaction by performing basic image analysis of photos taken with a smartphone, which constitutes a useful alternative when lacking specialized equipment or a laboratory setting. Our automated ELISA on-chip has the potential to be used in a clinical setting and mitigate some of the burden caused by testing deficiencies.