Label-free, non-optical detection of intact SARS-CoV-2 virions in native human saliva via microscale surface ion conduction.

Sommer Osman, Sanduni U Devasinghe, Madison E Strait, Cicero C Pola, Delphine Dean, Carmen L Gomes, Robbyn K Anand

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Biosensors & bioelectronics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed

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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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0 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Sommer OsmanThe Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, 2415 Osborn Drive, 1605 Gilman Hall, Ames, IA, United States.

Sanduni U DevasingheThe Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, 2415 Osborn Drive, 1605 Gilman Hall, Ames, IA, United States.

Madison E StraitThe Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, 2415 Osborn Drive, 1605 Gilman Hall, Ames, IA, United States.

Cicero C PolaThe Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2025 Black Engineering, Ames, IA, United States; Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Iowa State University, 536 Farm House Ln, Ames, IA, United States.

Delphine DeanDepartment of Bioengineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, United States; Center for Innovative Medical Devices and Sensors (REDDI Lab), Clemson University, Clemson, SC, United States.

Carmen L GomesThe Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2025 Black Engineering, Ames, IA, United States.

Robbyn K AnandThe Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, 2415 Osborn Drive, 1605 Gilman Hall, Ames, IA, United States. Electronic address: rkanand@iastate.edu.

Funding

Tissue Structural and Neural Remodeling in Human Sacroiliac JointP20GM121342 · NIGMS · CLEMSON UNIVERSITY · PI Jeryl Jones · 2018 to 2026

$24.7M

NIGMS NIH HHS P20 GM121342

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the need for deployable point-of-care (POC) diagnostics capable of rapid viral detection in complex biofluids. While antigen-based tests offer advantages over reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in speed and accessibility, many platforms remain limited by labeling requirements, optical readout, or sample pretreatment. Here, we report the first demonstration of label-free, non-optical, direct detection of intact SARS-CoV-2 virions in native human saliva without sample pretreatment using a microscale surface ion conduction ( μSIC) sensor. This work further represents the first application of a μSIC sensor to clinical samples, validated using saliva from COVID-19 patients. In this approach, virions bind to a packed bed of probe-modified microbeads, producing a concentration-dependent shift in ionic current arising from modulation of surface ion conduction, even under high ionic strength conditions. The μSIC sensor achieves a limit of detection of 8.5 × 10

Indexed as

Biosensing TechniquesCOVID-19SalivaSARS-CoV-2VirionElectric ConductivityHumansLimit of DetectionRapid Diagnostic TestsIntact SARS-CoV-2 virionIon conductionLabel-free sensingNative human saliva

Identifiers

PMID41895232

DOI10.1016/j.bios.2026.118643

PMCPMC13548105

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.