Simultaneous detection of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A/B viruses on an electromagnetically-driven, integrated microfluidic system

Accurately distinguishing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from other respiratory diseases with similar clinical manifestations, including influenza A (Inf A) and influenza B (Inf B), is 1) challenging due to their similar early-stage respiratory symptoms and 2) important because different treatments are required for each. Herein an electromagnetically-driven, compact (35 × 25 × 25cm), integrated microfluidic system (IMS) was developed that incorporated fluorescence detection and quantification of real-time, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) products for the detection of three viruses simultaneously. The integrated microfluidic system could automate and perform the entire diagnostic process, including virus capture, viral lysis, RT-PCR, and optical quantification from fluorescence signal, thus enabling the identification and differentiation of Inf A/B from SARS-CoV-2 within only 50μL of sample for 2 hrs. The limits of detection for E and RdRp genes of SARS-CoV-2, NP gene of Inf A, and M gene of Inf B were 200, 200, 700, and 160 copies/mL, respectively. The sensitivity and accuracy were comparable to conventional approaches with developed integrated microfluidic systems. The integrated microfluidic system is considered to utility for rapid diagnosis of all three types of infectious viruses