Table 6.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Diagnostic Methods Currently Available or Proposed for Detecting SARS-CoV-2

	Categories	Sensitivity	Specificity	Early Phase Detection	Late Phase Detection	Expense	Sample Collection and Processing	Reagents and Materials	Facilities Required	Comments
Cell Culture and Microscopy	Cell Culture and Microscopy	+++	+++	++	+	+++	Critical	Expensive	BSL-3 facilities	Not suitable for diagnostic purpose
Radiology-based detection	Radiology-based Detection	±	±	−	+	+	N/A	Large and expensive equipment	Trained personnel	Might be ambiguous with respect to other respiratory diseases
NAAT-Based Technologies	Real-Time RT-PCR	+++	+++	+++	±	++	Crucial and tedious	Expensive equipment as well as reagents	Trained personnel and BSL-2 facilities	Sensitivity starts to fall after about 8 days of exposure but gold standard method
	Isothermal Amplification Technologies	+++	+++	++	±	+	Depends on the method applied	Large scale production can reduce the cost	Trained personnel and BSL-2 facility	Further study required to make it a suitable for POCT
	CRISPR-Based Diagnostics	+++	+++	++	±	+	Depends on the method applied	Large scale use might reduce cost	POCT	Can detect mismatches within DNA with high accuracy
	Microfluidic Biochip or Lab-On-A-Chip Technology	+++	+++	++	±	+++	Sample processing required	Small amount of sample and reagents required, but production cost is high	POCT	Performed on a single chip with high accuracy
	Next Generation Sequencing	+++	++++	N/A	N/A	+++	Tedious	Expensive reagents and equipment required	Trained personnel	Genomic identification and suitable for genomic epidemiological studies
Immunoassay	ELISA/CLIA	++	+++	++	±	++	Multiple samples can be tested at the same time	Expensive reagent and equipment required for CLIA	Trained professional and BSL-2 facility	Effective for large scale screening in short time
	LFIA	+	+++	+	−	+	Minimum	Minimum reagent	POCT	Risk of false negative results
	Neutralization assay	+++	+++	++	±	+++	Sample processing required	Expensive reagent and equipment required	Trained professional and BSL-2 facility	Time consuming
Technology Under Development	Aptamer	++	++	Not enough Data	Not enough Data	±	Sample processing required	Large scale use will reduce cost	Can be a POCT	Diagnostic performance needs to be evaluated
	Molecular imprinting technology (MIT)	+	+	Not enough data	Not enough data	Not enough data	Sample processing required	Expensive reagent	Can be a POCT	Diagnostic performance is to be evaluated
	Microarray	++	++	Not enough Data	Not enough Data	−	Sample processing required	Expensive reagent and equipment required	Qualified personnel and advanced facility	Time Consuming
	Biosensor	++	++	Not enough Data	Not enough Data	+	Sample processing required	Expensive reagent	Can be a POCT	Diagnostic performance is to be evaluated

Notes: “+” Positive/Good; “++” Better; “+++” High; “N/A” Not Applicable; “ ±” Variable; “−” Negative.