On Sunday, UK scientists tested ‘Covid-Alarm’, an electronic device that would identify the presence of infection in a crowded place by body odour.
Earlier, it was found by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Durham University that the COVID-19 has a distinct smell, which results in the changing of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) which make up the body odour generating an ‘odour fingerprint’ that the sensor could detect.
This research was led by researchers from LSHTM and Durham University, the study tested devices with organic semiconducting (OSC) sensors, which could be potentially used as a Covid-19 screening tool.
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Professor James Logan, Head of the Department of Disease Control at LSHTM said that the results are really promising and this technology can be used to conduct rapid, non-invasive tests with incredible accuracy. But still, further testing is required to confirm if these results are accurate or not in the real world.
He further said, if these devices are successfully developed for public use then these would be used to protect people even from further disease outbreaks.
Earlier, in the study conducted with the body odour sample from socks worn and donated by 54 individuals. Out of 54, 27 were tested positive for Covid-19 with asymptomatic or mild symptoms and the rest 27 were uninfected.
These samples were collected as a part of a wider study led by LSHTM, Medical Detection Dogs and Durham University. The samples were analyzed by RoboScientific’s Model 307B VOC analyzer fitted with an array of 12 OSC sensors.
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These OSC sensors captured the odour profile of the samples.
Professor Steve Lindsay from the department of Biosciences at Durham University said, “We started our research with a blank sheet of paper and asked one question – Does Covid-19 have a distinct smell?”
He added, “We ended the research showing a clear separation between the odours of people infected with the virus. Covid-19 most definitely has a very distinct smell. This is a real discovery of science and very exciting for the development of screening methods for the disease.”
Within two days, it was found that the sensor was able to detect the infected and uninfected sample, which showed that the SARS-CoV-2 infection has a distinct smell.
On the first day, 98 percent of specificity and 99 percent of sensitivity were achieved and on the second day, 100 percent of specificity and sensitivity was achieved. This research suggested that the device could detect the Covid-19 virus through body odour in a crowded place.
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