A point-of-care diagnostic prototype for high-throughput, multiplexed single-virus detection

Attention to viral infections has increased after multiple recent outbreaks: the global 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, the variant-strain Ebola virus epidemic of 2007, and the West Nile virus epidemic of 2003-2004. Despite advances in antiviral drugs, diagnostics have lagged behind [1] [2]. These outbreaks underline the growing need for early virus discovery through rapid and reliable point-of-care (POC) diagnostics. POC diagnostics are limited to symptomatic patients as they rely on antibody-antigen interactions for detection. Plaque titer and real-time PCR are the standard methods for pre-seroconversion detection of an infection. Currently, these methods are laborious and do not lend well to POC applications. The Interferometric Reflectance Imaging Sensor (IRIS) is a portable, label-free, and multiplexed method for pre-seroconversion detection of single viral particles.