# DiagnosDisk - a highly sensitive point-of-care test for detecting SARS-CoV-2 antigen in saliva

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2021 · $233,250

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
SARS-CoV-2, a global pandemic, has caused more than 6 million infections and 180,000 deaths in the United
States alone during the past 7 months. Both the WHO and CDC emphasize the need for point-of-care (POC)
tests to expand diagnosis of acute infections to control the pandemic (i.e. isolating infected individuals). The
current gold standard test for diagnosing acute SARS-CoV-2 infection is reverse transcriptase polymerase
chain reaction (RT-PCR) with nasopharyngeal samples. The assay is highly sensitive, but requires well-trained
personnel for sample collection and locations with specialized equipment. Therefore, the turnaround time
varies from one to few days, delaying isolation, contact tracing, and medical attention. These challenges can
be addressed with lateral flow immunoassays (LFIA) to detect viral antigens in self-collected saliva samples.
Compared to nasopharyngeal specimens, studies have demonstrated that assays with saliva samples are
more consistent and the saliva itself may contain higher viral load. However, existing LFIA for detecting
salivary antigens exhibit poor sensitivity (≤ 40%) caused by the use of small sample volumes and sample
dilution. To achieve timely and accurate screening of suspected COVID-19 cases, this project aims to develop
a rapid assay for detecting SARS-CoV-2 antigens in saliva with high sensitivity to meet WHO's target product
profile. We hypothesize that using ≥500 µL saliva as the assay sample can significantly improve the sensitivity
because a larger specimen volume provides more analytes for detection. The new test will employ
temperature-responsive polymer-antibody conjugates in conjunction with DiagnosDisk, a novel flow-through
assay device. The approach is innovative in in using enriched saliva specimens for more consistent assay
results, enhancing antigen detection by scaling up the saliva specimen volume, and adopting the well-
developed sandwich immunoassay for DiagnosDisk with temperature-responsive polymer reagents that
simplify the design while maximizing the sensitivity. We will employ polymer-antibody conjugates that efficiently
isolate analytes in saliva (Aim 1) and fabricate the DiagnosDisk device to accommodate larger volume saliva
specimens to improve the detection limit (Aim 2). The sensitivity of the new rapid assay, which combines
polymer-antibody conjugates and DiagnosDisk, will be evaluated using saliva specimens from COVID-19
positive and negative patients (Aim 3).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10285991
- **Project number:** 1R21AI163282-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** James Lai
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $233,250
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-06-25 → 2022-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10285991

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10285991, DiagnosDisk - a highly sensitive point-of-care test for detecting SARS-CoV-2 antigen in saliva (1R21AI163282-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10285991. Licensed CC0.

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