This application uses the smartphone’s camera to analyze saliva and detect the pathogens of Covid-19. This would provide very big savings with results similar to a PCR test.
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For the holidays at the end of the year, a good part of the population was able to experience the long queues in the cold to carry out a test. antigenic in a pharmacy or PCR. Hoping that we will not relive this kind of adventure again, smartphones will perhaps revolutionize the way of test. This is, in any case, what scientists from the University of California at Santa Barbara have experienced.
The team released in early December an article in which she explains that she developed a covid-19 testing which does not involve any laboratory equipment. Scientists offer a simple application and a set consisting of a cardboard box, a heating plate and another, in glass, equipped with LEDs. According to them, these accessories could make it possible to obtain the same precision as with a test PCR.
baptized bacticountthe application uses the phone’s camera to detect the presence of agents pathogens in his saliva. The smartphone alone is not enough, however, you have to use the complete system. Concretely, the person must deposit their saliva in a test kit which is placed on a hot plate. One reagent is then mixed with saliva.
A 7 dollar test as efficient as a PCR
This process, which is found on the various tests, and in particular the self-testsallows to amplify RNA viral. The sample is covered with a cardboard box. On the top, a transparent plate is surrounded by light LEDs of color Red. It is on this that we will place the smartphone. the sensor will raise the color of the reaction and it is this that will allow to know if the person is positive to the Covid-19 or not. If so, the samples will fluoresce with the red light from the LED. The more pathogens present, the more fluorescent the tint becomes and the faster the app will register it.
This process also makes it possible to assess the viral load of a person depending on how quickly the mixture fluoresces. With this process, the researchers believe that a test should cost around $7. The only problem is that for the moment the application is only compatible with smartphones. Samsung Galaxy S9. Everything has been sized according to the calibration of the camera of this mobile.
So far, the researchers have only tested their system on a sample of 50 candidates. The results seem to show values that approach the accuracy of the PCR tests. It will take a cohort more substantial to be able to verify this effectiveness. The researchers also explain that their process could be used for other viruses as well.
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