(664b) Sampling of Contact Lens Saline for Sars-Cov-2 Virus Detection Applications

Since a contact lens adsorb biological materials such as, proteins, microbes, small molecules, and even viruses, it was hypothesized that the solution used to clean the lens overnight could be used as a source of a biological sample. This hypothesis was tested for SARS-CoV-2 (covid-19) detection using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) PCR. LAMP PCR primers were designed to detect a unique sequence of the RNA dependent RNA polymerase gene of SARS-CoV-2 virus. Results showed that LAMP PCR could successfully be used to detect heat inactivated virus in as little as thirty minutes. This presentation will discuss the motivation and rationale of the use of a contact lens and cleaning solution as a passive sorbent and recovery solution for biological materials, provide a short overview of LAMP PCR and primer design, and discuss results that indicate a viable path forward for this concept.