Quantum probe enabled Raman spectroscopy for HIV test

全球成人艾滋病毒流行率为0.8%。早期发现艾滋病毒感染者可以及时提供治疗、护理和预防服务。快速、有选择性和准确的检测对于防治艾滋病毒流行至关重要。在更广泛的层面上，有两种HIV诊断方法。在临床环境中，最常用的方法是通过检测对HIV感染的免疫反应。抗体、抗原的存在或CD4+细胞水平可用于确认HIV感染。市场上的大多数测试工具都是基于这种方法，并且在测试精度方面非常成功。然而，艾滋病毒的反应性只能在一定的窗口时间后才能检测，通常是在感染后几周。因此，这种方法在检测长期感染方面非常出色，但有时无法检测最近的HIV感染。纳米技术的进步促进了艾滋病毒检测替代方法的发展。病毒成分，如HIV病毒颗粒、RNA/DNA或病毒蛋白，由纳米级传感器直接感知。该方法的主要优点是可以在接触后9-11天对成人和18个月以下的婴儿进行早期诊断，这些婴儿的感染无法通过免疫反应性确诊。来自瑞尔森大学和NeuronicWorks的研究人员开发了一种原型拉曼分析仪，用于快速检测唾液和血清中的COVID-19病毒颗粒、病毒成分和COVID-19反应性。该器件的高灵敏度是由量子大小的半导体传感器实现的。机加工学习派生的诊断算法提供测试结果的计算机解释。在这个项目中，我们将研究将相同的概念应用于检测艾滋病毒颗粒/颗粒成分以及免疫反应的可行性。我们的目标是开发可应用于HIV诊断和治疗全过程的多重检测方法。其功能包括但不限于在感染早期诊断HIV，解释HIV病毒载量/抗体/抗原以设计治疗方案和确认婴儿HIV感染。

The global HIV prevalence is 0.8% among adults. Early identifying persons with HIV infection allows for timely engagement of treatment, care and prevention services. A fast, selective and accurate test is critical in combating HIV prevalence. At a broader level, there are two approaches for HIV diagnosis. In clinical setting, the most commonly method is through the detecting of immune response to HIV infection. The presence of antibody, antigen or the level of CD4+ cell can be used to confirm the infection of HIV. Most of test kits on market are based on this method and they are quite successful in terms of test accuracy. However, HIV reactivity can be tested only after a certain window time, normally few weeks after the infection. Therefore, this approach is excellent in test long-standing infections, but are sometimes unable to detect recent HIV infections. The advancement of nanotechnology has fueled the development of alternative approach for HIV test. Viral components, such as the HIV virus particle, RNA/DNA or viral proteins are sensed directly by nanosized sensors. The major advantage of this method is that early diagnosis as early as 9-11 days post-exposure can be concluded for adult and for infants younger than 18 months, whose infection cannot be confirmed with immune reactivity. The researchers from Ryerson University and NeuronicWorks have developed a prototype Raman analyzer for the rapid detection of COVID-19 virus particle, virus components and COVID-19 reactivity from saliva and blood serum. The high sensitivity of the device is achieved by quantum-sized semiconductor sensor. Machining learn derived diagnosis algorithms provides computerized interpretation of test results. In this project we will investigate the feasibility of applying the same concept for the detection of HIV particles/particle components as well as immune response. We aim to develop multiplex assay that can be applied to the whole course of HIV diagnosis and treatment. Some of the functions include but not limited to diagnosis HIV at the early stage of infection, interpreting HIV viral load/antibody/antigen for the design of treatment plan and confirm HIV infection for infants.