Functionalized Smart Nanomaterials for Point-of-Care Testing

Microorganisms especially viruses are one of the major causes of generating serious threats to human health which claims millions of lives annually. Infectious viruses are emerging periodically with their numerous harmful variants such as influenza A virus, Ebola, MERS-CoV-2, most recently SARS-CoV-2(COVID-19), etc. Traditional biochemical and immunological diagnostic methods are limited by sample transportation, processing, high-cost, time-consuming, and expert technicians to operate. Meanwhile, Point-of-Care (POC) devices can be a potential solution to overcome all these drawbacks. These devices provide many benefits in terms of portability, rapidity, low-cost, automation, etc. Nanomaterials of various shapes, size, composition, and physical and chemical properties such as gold nanoparticles, quantum dots, carbon nanomaterials, and hybrid nanocomposites, have been widely used in POC devices to enhance analytical activity and simplify the detection process. In this chapter, we are focusing on various nanomaterials-based POC diagnostic devices for the analysis of viral disease biomarkers. Many more novel, innovative platforms need to come to address the unmet clinical demands. The development of bench-to-bedside and point-of-care devices in recent years has made the term “biosensor” more well known in the scientific community.