Research validates biosensor's AI detection capabilities
In the Fall 2008, the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) publication PoultryTech reported on the potential of using an optical biosensor developed by GTRI for the detection of the avian influenza (AI) virus*. The optical sensor is low-cost, easy to use, field-deployable, and provides rapid results less than 30 minutes. Recently, GTRI researchers teamed with colleagues at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory to validate the sensor’s detection capabilities with experimentally infected live chickens.
The optical biosensor uses a concept known as waveguide interferometry to precisely determine how many virus particles attach to the receptors on the biosensor’s surface. For the validation tests, sensing assays were tested against low-pathogenic H5 and H7 avian influenza strains in a “field use” manner. Split samples (oropharyngeal swabs) were collected each day for seven days post inoculation from 100 experimentally infected four-week-old broiler chickens. These samples were tested using the optical biosensor and two other diagnostic methods: real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RRT-PCR) and the Synbiotics dipstick immunoassay.