Detection of Covid-19 with Dual-Signal Probes in Paper Microfluidics

Current Covid-19 detection methods commercialized today that use colorimetric probes have the advantage of short response time but the issue of low sensitivity. Other methods consider fluorescent probes that increase sensitivity but lead to longer response times. In this work, both fluorescence probes and colorimetric probes are integrated into a microfluidic paper strip. Both probes are incorporated into a single microfluidic paper strip to optimize sensitivity and efficiency. As a result, the use of colorimetric probes allows for the advantages of antibody absorption to be utilized for a short response time to detect antigens without need an extra excitation source while fluorescent probes increase detection sensitivity and compensate for the low sensitivity of colorimetric probes. The dual-signal probe displays capacity for greatly improving the accuracy and timeliness of standard Covid-19 detection in test kits.