New technology could detect COVID-19 with smartphone sensor
While there is a race to develop a vaccine and find a treatment for COVID-19, researchers are also working on new technology to help detect the virus.
At the University of Utah, engineers are developing a new way to detect it using your smartphone.
This started as a project about 12 months ago to help people detect Zika virus using a sensor as they traveled. Now, engineers are re-working it for COVID-19.
The sensor is just about the size of a quarter. Developers say if someone coughs, breathes or sneezes into the sensor, it will detect if they are infected with COVID-19 in just about 60 seconds.
Massood Tabib-Azar, the lead researcher, also hopes to be able to send results to health agencies.
"You'd push the button and it can send to a central location, Centers for Disease Control (and Prevention) or any other authority that you would select in your options and then in real-time can update the map," Tabib-Azar said.
The plan is to have a working prototype in two months and then submit it for clinical trials.
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