Artificial intelligence detects the presence of viruses

Many biosensing applications rely on characterization of specific analytes such as proteins, viruses and bacteria, among many other targets, which can be accomplished by using micro- or nano-scale particles. In such biosensors, these particles are coated with a surface chemistry that makes them stick to the target analyte forming clusters in response. The higher the target analyte concentration is, the larger the number of clusters gets. Therefore, monitoring and characterizing these particle clusters can tell us if the target analyte is present in a sample and in what concentration. Current methods to perform such an analysis are limited in that they are either capable of only a coarse readout or rely on expensive and bulky microscopes, which limit their applicability to address different biosensing needs, especially in resource limited environments.