Fast In Situ Inactivation of Pathogens in Tubes by Plasma

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevailing method for inactivating samples used in nucleic acid detection is a time-consuming process that involves heating the samples in a thermostatic water bath at 56 °C for a duration of 30 min. In this study, a fast in situ inactivation method for pathogen samples in test tubes was proposed, which can markedly reduce the treatment time of pathogens to 2 min without affecting subsequent detection. By attaching a designed needle-electrode structure to the samples, an inactivation device of corona discharge was implemented. Using the device, Escherichia coli could be inactivated by more than 3 Log in 1 min and Mouse Hepatitis Virus (MHV) within 2 min. In addition, the ribonucleic acid (RNA) damage of MHV, obviously ahead of its inactivation, is suggested not to be the main reason that causes its inactivation. So locating an appropriate treatment duration can preserve the RNA of samples for nucleic acid detection. In the future study, proposing a new discharge structure with electrodes outside the sealed test tube will be our focus.