Timely detection and diagnosis are essentially needed to guide outbreak measures and infection control. It is vital to improve healthcare quality in public places, markets, schools and airports and provide useful insights into the technological environment and help researchers acknowledge the choices and gaps available in this field. In this narrative review, the detection of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) technologies is summarized and discussed with a comparison between them from several aspects to arrive at an accurate decision on the feasibility of applying the best of these techniques in the biosensors that operate using laser detection technology. The collection of data in this analysis was done by using six reliable academic databases, namely, Science Direct, IEEE Xplore, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar and PubMed. This review includes an analysis review of three highlights: evaluating the hazard of pandemic COVID-19 transmission styles and comparing them with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) to identify the main causes of the virus spreading, a critical analysis to diagnose coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) based on artificial intelligence using CT scans and CXR images and types of biosensors. Finally, we select the best methods that can potentially stop the propagation of the coronavirus pandemic.

The propagation of viruses has become a global threat as proven through the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Therefore, the quick detection of viral diseases and infections could be necessary. This study aims to develop a framework for virus diagnoses based on integrating photonics technology with artificial intelligence to enhance healthcare in public areas, marketplaces, hospitals, and airfields due to the distinct spectral signatures from lasers’ effectiveness in the classification and monitoring of viruses. However, providing insights into the technical aspect also helps researchers identify the possibilities and difficulties in this field. The contents of this study were collected from six authoritative databases: Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, Science Direct, Scopus, PubMed Central, and Google Scholar. This review includes an analysis and summary of laser techniques to diagnose COVID-19 such as fluorescence methods, surface-enhanced Raman scattering, surface plasmon resonance, and integration of Raman scattering with SPR techniques. Finally, we select the best strategies that could potentially be the most effective methods of reducing epidemic spreading and improving healthcare in the environment.

This research demonstrates a one-step modification process of biopolymer carrageenan active sites through functional group substitution in κ-carrageenan structures. The modification process improves the electronegative properties of κ-carrageenan derivatives, leading to enhancement of the material’s performance. Synthesized succinyl κ-carrageenan with a high degree of substitution provides more active sites for interaction with analytes. The FTIR analysis of succinyl κ-carrageenan showed the presence of new peaks at 1068 cm⁻¹, 1218 cm⁻¹, and 1626 cm⁻¹ that corresponded to the vibrations of C–O and C=O from the carbonyl group. A new peak at 2.86 ppm in ¹H NMR represented the methyl proton neighboring with C=O. The appearance of new peaks at 177.05 and 177.15 ppm in ¹³C NMR proves the substitution of the succinyl group in the κ-carrageenan structure. The elemental analysis was carried out to calculate the degree of substitution with the highest value of 1.78 at 24 h of reaction. The XRD diffractogram of derivatives exhibited a higher degree of crystallinity compared to pristine κ-carrageenan at 23.8% and 9.2%, respectively. Modification of κ-carrageenan with a succinyl group improved its interaction with ions and the conductivity of the salt solution compared to its pristine form. This work has a high potential to be applied in various applications such as sensors, drug delivery, and polymer electrolytes.

Orthodontic clear aligners, along with their attachments, are used for the corrective alignment of teeth during orthodontic treatment. Although the clear aligner technique has gained widespread popularity due to its aesthetic quality, studies that examine and map the measurement of forces applied to clear aligner attachments are lacking. This investigation describes the topographical visualisation of the force in clear aligner attachments. We describe a method using Prescale® pressure film and an image processing technique to obtain the topographical visualisation of a clear aligner’s distributed force on the attachment in an in-vitro study using resin models. The variation of colour density due to the distributed force is calibrated with a force gauge for validation. The image processing technique is demonstrated through the histogram-based K-means clustering method with 3D visualisation of the distributed force. This method involves pressure film calibration, followed by sample preparation and image processing analysis. The proposed topographical pressure mapping system illustrates the distributed force on the clear aligner attachment as the force applied is directly proportional to intensit. For active aligners, the mean force ranged from 6.2–6.3 N, and for passive aligners, the mean force ranged from 4.8–4.9 N. Therefore, the net force exerted on a single clear aligner attachment in a resin model for this study was 1.3–1.4 N. The preliminary findings of this work can be developed further to be a reference in future clinical orthodontic clear aligner and attachment research.