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Updated: Jul 9, 2025
Development of a Lateral Flow Immunochromatographic Strip for Rapid and Quantitative Detection of Small Molecule Compounds
Published on: November 13, 2021
Recent advances in SERS-based immunochromatographic assay for pathogenic microorganism diagnosis: A review
Qing Yu1, Ting Wu2, Benshun Tian2
1Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital (Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences), Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510000, China; College of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China.
Abstract:
Infectious diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other pathogenic microorganisms are among the most harmful public health problems in the world, causing tens of millions of deaths and incalculable economic losses every year. The establishment of rapid, simple, and highly sensitive diagnostic methods for pathogenic microorganisms is important for the prevention and control of infectious diseases, guidance of timely treatment, and the reduction of public safety risks. Lateral flow immunoassay (LFA) based on the colorimetric signal of colloidal gold is the most popular point-of-care testing technology at present, but it is limited by poor sensitivity and low throughput and hardly meets the needs of the highly sensitive screening of pathogenic microorganisms. In recent years, the combination of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and LFA technology has developed into a novel analytical platform with high sensitivity and multiple detection capabilities and has shown great advantages in the detection of pathogenic microorganisms and infectious diseases. This review summarizes the working principle, design ideas, and application of the existing SERS-based LFA methods in pathogenic microorganism detection and further introduces the effect of new technologies such as Raman signal encoding, magnetic enrichment, novel membrane nanotags, and integrated Raman reading equipment on the performance of SERS-LFA. Finally, the main challenges and the future direction of development in this field of SERS-LFA are discussed.
Insights
Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) combined with lateral flow immunoassay (LFA) offers a highly sensitive method for detecting pathogenic microorganisms. This advanced technique overcomes the limitations of traditional LFA, improving infectious disease diagnostics.
Area of Science:
- Analytical Chemistry
- Biotechnology
- Public Health
Background:
- Infectious diseases pose a significant global health threat, necessitating rapid and sensitive diagnostic tools.
- Current point-of-care diagnostics like lateral flow immunoassay (LFA) lack the sensitivity and throughput for effective screening of pathogenic microorganisms.
- Developing advanced diagnostic methods is crucial for disease control, timely treatment, and public safety.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the principles, design, and applications of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based LFA for detecting pathogenic microorganisms.
- To explore how emerging technologies enhance the performance of SERS-LFA platforms.
- To discuss current challenges and future directions in SERS-LFA for infectious disease diagnostics.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on SERS-LFA methods for pathogenic microorganism detection.
- Analysis of novel technological advancements, including Raman signal encoding, magnetic enrichment, and new membrane nanotags.
- Discussion of integrated Raman reading equipment for improved performance.
Main Results:
- SERS-LFA platforms demonstrate significantly higher sensitivity and multiplexing capabilities compared to traditional LFA.
- New technologies like Raman signal encoding and magnetic enrichment enhance detection limits and efficiency.
- Integrated reading equipment offers potential for improved throughput and point-of-care application.
Conclusions:
- SERS-LFA represents a promising analytical platform for sensitive and rapid detection of pathogenic microorganisms.
- Further development in nanotechnology and instrumentation is key to realizing the full potential of SERS-LFA in infectious disease diagnostics.
- SERS-LFA holds great potential for improving global public health by enabling early and accurate diagnosis of infectious diseases.
