Real-time optical analysis of a colorimetric LAMP assay for SARS-CoV-2 in saliva with a handheld instrument improves accuracy compared with endpoint assessment.

Controlling the course of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic will require widespread deployment of consistent and accurate diagnostic testing of the novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Ideally, tests should detect a minimum viral load, be minimally invasive, and provide a rapid and simple readout. Current Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved RT-qPCR-based standard diagnostic approaches require invasive nasopharyngeal swabs and involve laboratory-based analyses that can delay results.

Chemical stabilization of dispersed Escherichia coli for enhanced recovery with a handheld electroflotation system and detection by Loop-mediated Isothermal AMPlification.

Constraints related to sample preparation are some of the primary obstacles to widespread deployment of molecular diagnostics for rapid detection of trace quantities (≤103 CFU/mL) of food-borne pathogens. In this research, we report a sample preparation method using a novel handheld electroflotation system to concentrate and recover dilute quantities (102-103 CFU/mL) of Escherichia coli (E. coli) 25922 in artificially contaminated samples for reliable, rapid detection by loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP).