When attached to supporting electronics, the sensor can wirelessly transmit data to the user’s cell phone through Bluetooth.
CREDIT: Caltech
One feature of the COVID-19 virus that makes it so difficult to contain is that it can be easily spread to others by a person who has yet to show any signs of infection. The carrier of the virus might feel perfectly well and go about their daily business–taking the virus with them to work, to the home of a family member, or to public gatherings.
A crucial part of the global effort to stem the spread of the pandemic, therefore, is the development of tests that can rapidly identify infections in people who are not yet symptomatic.
Now, Caltech researchers have developed a new type of multiplexed test (a test that combines multiple kinds of data) with a low-cost sensor that may enable the at-home diagnosis of a COVID infection through rapid analysis of small volumes of saliva or blood, without the involvement of a medical professional, in less than 10 minutes.
The research was conducted in the lab of Wei Gao, assistant professor in the Andrew and Peggy Cherng department of medical engineering.. Previously, Gao and his team have developed wireless sensors that can monitor conditions such as gout, as well as stress levels, through the detection of extremely low levels of specific compounds in blood, saliva, or sweat.
Gao’s sensors are made of graphene, a sheet-like form of carbon. A plastic sheet etched with a laser generates a 3D graphene structure with tiny pores. Those pores create a large amount of surface area on the sensor, which makes it sensitive enough to detect, with high accuracy, compounds that are only present in very small amounts. In this sensor, the graphene structures are coupled with antibodies, immune system molecules that are sensitive to specific proteins, like those on the surface of a COVID virus, for example.
Previous versions of the sensor were impregnated with antibodies for the hormone cortisol, which is associated with stress, and uric acid, which at high concentrations causes gout. The new version of the sensor, which Gao has named SARS-CoV-2 RapidPlex, contains antibodies and proteins that allow it to detect the presence of the virus itself; antibodies created by the body to fight the virus; and chemical markers of inflammation, which indicate the severity of the COVID-19 infection.
“This is the only telemedicine platform I’ve seen that can give information about the infection in three types of data with a single sensor,” Gao says. “In as little as a few minutes, we can simultaneously check these levels, so we get a full picture about the infection, including early infection, immunity, and severity.”
Established COVID-testing technologies usually take hours or even days to produce results. Those technologies also require expensive, complicated equipment, whereas Gao’s system is simple and compact.
So far, the device has been tested only in the lab with a small number of blood and saliva samples obtained for medical research purposes from individuals who have tested positive or negative for COVID-19. Though preliminary results indicate that the sensor is highly accurate, a larger-scale test with real-world patients rather than laboratory samples must be performed, Gao cautions, to definitively determine its accuracy.
With the pilot study now completed, Gao next plans to test how long the sensors last with regular use, and to begin testing them with hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Following in-hospital testing, he would like to study the suitability of the tests for in-home use. Following testing, the device will need to receive regulatory approval before it is available for widespread use at home.
“Our ultimate aim really is home use,” he says. “In the following year, we plan to mail them to high-risk individuals for at-home testing. And in the future, this platform could be modified for other types of infectious disease testing at home.”
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
COVID-19 detector
- Montana school levies illuminate budget shortfalls, pocketbooks
Montanans last week rejected half of the school levies tracked by the state’s largest union, including all five requests in Helena, even as large districts face multimillion dollar shortfalls.
- Anticipated costs for county jail heat-air fixes leave project shelved for now
Oklahoma County is rethinking how to pay for making fixes to its existing jail's heat and air system after learning what it budgeted is not enough.
- UW-Madison reaches deal with protesters moments before graduation ceremonies
As the first round of graduations commenced at the Kohl Center, just blocks away from where a pro-Palestine encampment was wrapping up, University of Wisconsin-Madison officials are ...
- NASA's ultralow-noise superconducting camera smashes pixel limit in search for Earth-like planets
A team of researchers developed a superconducting camera that breaks scaling limits in hunt for exoplanets beyond our solar system ...
- The Covid-19 Pandemic
With the acute phase of the Covid-19 pandemic fading even as the coronavirus persists and evolves, a new normal is taking shape around the world. The shot is no longer being manufactured or ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
COVID-19 detector
[google_news title=”” keyword=”COVID-19 detector” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Rapid detection of COVID-19
- UAlbany scientists receive funding to develop color-changing salmonella detection kit
Similar to the test strips used to measure pH or detect COVID-19, it will display results on a color-changing ... nanotechnology-enabled approach for rapid Salmonella detection that can easily be used ...
- RT-PCR bests rapid tests for diagnosing high risk COVID-19 patients reveals study
As population immunity to SARS-CoV-2 evolves and new variants emerge, the role and accuracy of antigen tests remain active questions. A recent study published in the CDC Morbidity and ...
- iHealth’s COVID-19/Flu rapid test secures FDA EUA
iHealth CEO Jack Feng said: “In the face of uncertainty surrounding symptoms such as fever, sneezing, cough, or fatigue and what illness they may be indicative of, our at-home 3-in-1 self-test offers ...
- OraSure Reports Q1 ’24 Revenue of $54.1 Million
Q1 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.04Restructuring initiatives expected to result in $15 million of annualized expense reductions once ...
- Real-time detection of infectious disease viruses by searching for molecular fingerprinting
The emergence of pandemic epidemics like COVID-19 has emphasized the necessity ... also facilitates practical applications, enabling rapid detection of a broad spectrum of emerging viruses using ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Rapid detection of COVID-19
[google_news title=”” keyword=”rapid detection of COVID-19″ num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]