Fully Integrated\nMicrofluidic Digital Chip for Simple\nand Highly Quantitative Detection of Norovirus

The prevalence of foodborne illnesses is a significant\nglobal concern,\nresulting in numerous illnesses, deaths, and substantial economic\nlosses annually. Traditional detection methods for foodborne pathogens\nare often slow, limited, and impractical for field use, underscoring\nthe need for rapid, sensitive, and portable assays. Microfluidic technology\nhas emerged as a promising solution for sample preparation, reaction,\nand detection on a small scale. Our study introduces a novel microfluidic\ndigital loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay platform,\nwhich employs digital microfluidic chips for absolute quantitative\nanalysis of nucleic acids. This portable chip utilizes LAMP technology\nto achieve ultrasensitive detection of target nucleic acids within\n30 min and reduces the detection limit to 1 fM without the need for\ncomplex instrumentation. By digitizing amplification signals directly\nfrom the target sample, our platform offers simplicity, affordability,\nportability, and quantitative molecular readouts. This innovation\nrepresents a crucial step toward the on-site detection of foodborne\npathogens, thereby enhancing food safety and mitigating disease outbreaks.