Browsing by Author "Bhalla, Nikhil"
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Item Open Access Biosensors for rapid detection of bacterial pathogens in water, food and environment(Elsevier, 2022-06-28) Nnachi, Raphael Chukwuka; Sui, Ning; Ke, Bowen; Luo, Zhenhua; Bhalla, Nikhil; He, Daping; Yang, ZhugenConventional techniques (e.g., culture-based method) for bacterial detection typically require a central laboratory and well-trained technicians, which may take several hours or days. However, recent developments within various disciplines of science and engineering have led to a major paradigm shift in how microorganisms can be detected. The analytical sensors which are widely used for medical applications in the literature are being extended for rapid and on-site monitoring of the bacterial pathogens in food, water and the environment. Especially, within the low-resource settings such as low and middle-income countries, due to the advantages of low cost, rapidness and potential for field-testing, their use is indispensable for sustainable development of the regions. Within this context, this paper discusses analytical methods and biosensors which can be used to ensure food safety, water quality and environmental monitoring. In brief, most of our discussion is focused on various rapid sensors including biosensors and microfluidic chips. The analytical performances such as the sensitivity, specificity and usability of these sensors, as well as a brief comparison with the conventional techniques for bacteria detection, form the core part of the discussion. Furthermore, we provide a holistic viewpoint on how future research should focus on exploring the synergy of different sensing technologies by developing an integrated multiplexed, sensitive and accurate sensors that will enable rapid detection for food safety, water and environmental monitoring.Item Open Access Opportunities and challenges for biosensors and nanoscale analytical tools for pandemics: COVID-19(American Chemical Society, 2020-06-18) Bhalla, Nikhil; Pan, Yuwei; Yang, Zhugen; Payam, Amir FarokhBiosensors and nanoscale analytical tools have shown a huge growth in literature in the past 20 years, with a large number of reports on the topic of ’ultra-sensitive’, ’costeffective’ and ’early-detection’ tools with a potential of ’mass-production’ cited on the web of science. Yet none of these tools are commercially available in the market or practically viable for mass production and use in pandemic diseases such as COVID-19. In this context, we review the technological challenges and opportunities of current bio/chemical sensors and analytical tools by critically analyzing the bottlenecks which have hindered the implementation of advanced sensing technologies in pandemic diseases. We also describe in brief COVID-19 by comparing it with other pandemic strains such as SARS and MERS for the identification of features that enable biosensing. Moreover, we discuss visualization and characterization tools that can potentially be used not only for sensing applications but also assist in speeding up the drug discovery and vaccine development process. Furthermore, we discuss the emerging monitoring mechanism, namely wastewater-based epidemiology, for early warning of the outbreak, focusing on sensors for rapid and on-site analysis of SARS-COV-2 in sewage. To conclude, we provide holistic insights into challenges associated with the quick translation of sensing technologies, policies, ethical issues, technology adoption, and an overall outlook of the role of the sensing technologies in pandemics.